Cocorific: Season 4
by Summers-Girl
Summary: The next season in the Cocorific world following on from Cocorific Season 3 in which after Band Candy Giles and Joyce started seeing each other. GilesJoyce. Not strictly nesacery to read CS3 beforehand.Carried on in Cocorific:Season 5
1. The Freshman

A Giles/Joyce fic.

Second season in the Cocorific Series. To read this, you don't really have to read the first story Cocorific Season 3, but just know that in _that_ story Giles and Joyce, after the Band Candy incident, actually started dating. I suggest reading it, but then again, I'm the author so I _am_ going to suggest that. haha.

So anyway this is how season 4 would have gone in the Cocorific 'verse. hehe.

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A/N: The first two or three chapters will pretty much stay true to the original episodes with the Cocorific side of things being integrated but after that things won't be as episode orientated. Particularly Fear Itself... ;-).

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So anyway, here is the first chapter The Freshman. Hope you like how I did it and reviews-well, I like them a _lot_ and I'm sure you don't want me to be the little lonely review-free fanficcer. 8-D

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"Olivia?" Giles asked in surprise as he opened his front door expecting to see Joyce but instead found the young, attractive, black woman he knew in England.

"Ripper" She smiled.

"What are…what are you doing here?" He asked as she walked in without being invited.

"Well, just passing through sunny cal…" She explained, "Thought I'd look you up"

As she took a step forward he automatically took a step back.

"I'm assuming it wasn't to talk" He took a step back again. He and Olivia had had what could definitely be called 'a thing', but when the Watcher's Council had called him to America, the on-off relationship had taken a permanent switch to 'off'.

"Talking can be highly over-rated don't you think?" Olivia asked, clearly assuming they could pick up the relationship where they left off. It could have been considered insulting that she assumed he hadn't had any 'interest' during his time in America. Olivia had stepped forward and Giles, with no where else to go-through the wall behind him seeming to be the only option-was stood incredibly close to her when a woman that wasn't Olivia spoke up.

"What's going on?" And Giles turned to see Joyce stood in the doorway of the front door he had mistakenly left open.

"Joyce" He said, pushing Olivia away again and Joyce walked into living room slowly obviously very suspicious. She didn't know who this woman was but everything inside of her told her to take an instant disliking.

"When you invited me over Rupert, I didn't know we'd be entertaining guests"

Olivia looked sheepish as she held out her hand to Joyce.

"Hi, I'm Olivia" She introduced her and Joyce took her hand precariously.

"Joyce" she looked at Giles, before looking back at Olivia, "And how do you, uh, know Rupert?"

"We knew each other…quite well," Olivia explained with a smile, "In England"

"Really?" Joyce asked, looking at Giles with raised eyebrows and she walked over to stand beside him.

She felt territorial she couldn't help it. She didn't understand it though-she'd never felt territorial about a man in her life. She just wasn't that sort of person. But this Olivia was making her feel defensive and vulnerable. This woman after all knew him when he was in England- a part of his life that Joyce would never be in on and if she wasn't mistaken, and she usually wasn't, Olivia and Giles more than 'knew' each other back in the Mother country.

Olivia watched the unfamiliar blonde woman who Olivia had to say was older than her-perhaps close to Giles' age if a bit younger, and saw her stand beside Giles closely reaching for his hand if Olivia wasn't mistaken. She deducted that the two were in fact an item, but how serious?

"So you're American" Olivia commented and Joyce nodded.

"One of the effects of being born in America"

"Uh-huh." Olivia nodded before, suddenly feeling very unwelcome, she looked at Giles and made a decision there and then that it woldn't be a good choice to overstay her welcome, "Well it's been…well, it's been good seeing you again after all this time, but I have to go"

"Oh you sure you can't stay?" Joyce asked politely but the offer was clearly insincere.

"Positive" Olivia replied while Giles viewed it as safer to remain silent. "People to see, things to do and, well, planes to catch"

"I know it isn't far, but ah, let, let me show you out" Giles offered as he and Joyce led Olivia to the door.

"Well it was nice meeting you" Joyce told her as Olivia stepped out on the porch and more friendly farewells were exchanged for a few minutes before Olivia walked off down the path. Once Giles closed the front door Joyce's demeanour changed.

"Who was she?" Was her voice really that accusatory? Too late, she'd said it now.

"What? You know who she is. She was just a friend I knew in England"

"It looked like she intended more than friendship," Joyce pointed out, crossing her arms across her chest. She had asked a question and she had wanted an answer, but the answer had given wasn't a comforting one. It was the type of answer Hank had given her in the last months of their marriage. 'You know who she is' He'd say, 'She's from work. She's just my secretary.' Joyce shook her head to clear her thoughts as she tried to remind herself that Giles wasn't Hank. He was nothing like him in fact and she had to stop treating him as though that weren't true. She _could_ trust him with other women. After all wasn't that what the phrase 'takes two to tango' was all about?

"Well, we have _had_ a relationship before, quite a while ago in fact, but nothing…why are you so bothered about this?" Giles asked as he finally took into consideration how the usually calm woman (except when threats to her daughter were being made) was over-reacting.

"I-" Joyce began and then sighed when she couldn't answer the question, "I don't know. It's just she was here looking younger and wearing shorter skirts than me and she was _clearly_ interested and…"

"But I'm only interested in you." Giles told her with a slight frown of confusion, "I don't want her-I want you" He paused; "Besides if I remember correctly you wore rather a short skirt yourself once…"

"Haha…" Joyce mumbled, blushing at the memory, "But it's not just that" She explained, "She knows about your life in England and I, well, don't. She has insight into this whole other part of you that I just don't know" As she said it, she realized it was the truth.

"Trust me, you know all you want to or need to" He assured her and gave her a kiss. There were many things he didn't want Joyce to know about and hoped she would never ask. Finding out would…well, it wouldn't paint a pretty picture of him and rightly so. He remembered how distant Jenny had become when she had first come across his past face-to-face. He couldn't stand to have Joyce look at him the same way. However, her expression now told him she wasn't happy with his answer so he added carefully "Of course, if you're still wondering, I suppose we could always, uh, take, well, take a short trip to England. Together. Perhaps"

This time she kissed him and he couldn't hold back the small smile it created.

"I may hold you to that" She told him as the couple headed upstairs.

* * *

Buffy kept thinking back to her one new friend on campus, Eddie, and how he had mysteriously disappeared. That is, it was mysterious to no one but herself, but she had a strong suspicion vampires were involved and since her friends were off doing their own thing and Xander wasn't yet back from his road trip across America, so Buffy was turning to the one person who could help her; Giles. With everything being haywire in her life she could trust Giles to be the one safe constant. She opened the door and walked in without knocking.

"Giles?"

"Rupert-we have got to get you into stocking _real_ food. It's way too…non-fun British." A voice of woman Buffy knew all too well spoke up. Buffy took a few more steps forward into the living room and saw her Mom stood in the kitchen, looking through the cupboards. She sighed in frustration and walked out of the kitchen and stopped dead when she saw Buffy stood there.

"Buffy, what are you doing here?" Joyce asked panicking slightly

Buffy closed her eyes for a moment to block out the fact her Mom was wearing nothing but one of Giles' shirts.

"Oh god, this is a really bad time" Buffy said, going to leave, but Joyce stopped her.

"Not that I'm denying that, I'm _really_ not, but you must be here for a reason" Joyce tugged the shirt down in an unsuccessful attemp to make it longer. She felt very embarrassed and very vulnerable.

"Yeah, but this is _clearly_ oh god…." Buffy shook her head and hands again to keep herself away from that scary visual place she had pretended for so long didn't exist.

"Just give me one minute," Joyce told her, before rushing off into the bathroom to put on something a little less…comfortable.

Buffy waited in the living room grimacing and hoping that exchange would disappear from her memory banks the moment she left.

"Joyce?" Giles asked, coming into the room from another direction and he jumped as well slightly when he saw Buffy.

"Hello Buffy"

"Hi, I just saw, erm…" Buffy took a breath, "I just said hello to, erm, Mom"

"Ah," Giles nodded, "So that's all you came here to do? Say hello to your Mother?"

"Well, no, I came in the sense that…I need help. Slaying help," She told him just as her Mom walked back into the room now thankfully wearing slacks. Joyce ran her fingers through her hair, conscious that it needed brushing.

"Slaying?" Joyce asked, having caught the end of the conversation, "There's vampires at the university?" She asked in exasperation. She thought her daughter had, at least partially, got away from all that.

"Yes, No. Well, I don't know" Buffy answered honestly.

"What do you know?" Giles asked and Buffy just shook her head.

"This is clearly the wrong time to be talking about this. A bad time" She went to leave.

"Buffy?" Giles asked again, wondering what was the point in coming to say something and then leaving before saying it.

"Sorry I can't while…. while you know. Erm, while someone has a _little _too much time on their hands" Buffy told him.

"Buffy," Joyce said, "You know we're a couple and…"

"Yeah, but it's just wrong and I don't wanna see…argh." She went to leave again, but stopped and turned back. "It's just it's you two-Mom and Giles-and to think…see…. it's just very, very, very gross"

"Thanks" Joyce commented sarcastically.

"Why don't you just tell us what brings you here?" Giles asked and Buffy sighed in agreement.

"There's this student missing-Eddie"

"Oh you made a friend already?" Joyce asked echoing Willow from before, "And that's not really the point is it?"

"No" Buffy told her, "He's supposed to have left college…I just don't think he did. I met him outside last night and I went back to where we'd met and it looked like there had been a struggle…"

"And?" Giles asked, not seeing the point.

"Rupert" Joyce reprimanded him before looking at her daughter, "You think he was taken…by…vampires?" Buffy nodded.

"Well it makes sense doesn't it? Giles come on, there could be like vampires working the campus or something, we need research an-an-and charts and stuff"

"I still don't see where I fit in," Giles pointed out and before Buffy could say anything, Joyce hit him on the arm. "Ow?" He wondered what that had been for.

"She's coming to you for help and you're just throwing it in her face." Joyce told him, anger creeping up on her. Just because he wasn't her active watcher anymore did he feel he could slack on looking out for her?

"But she hasn't described anything she can't do herself" Giles explained and Joyce frowned.

"Doesn't mean you can't help though." She pointed out, "College is a big step- she wants a little help with…the slaying…and you're outright refusing."

"Guys it doesn't matter-" Buffy tried to step in but the two had started arguing.

"Buffy no longer needs a watcher. She quit the council," Giles pointed out.

"So what? You're quitting her too?" Joyce asked accusingly.

"That's not what I said and you know it. Buffy's safety will always be more important to me than anything she's got to learn to take of herself"

"And she's not saying she can't and I'm not saying she shouldn't. But that's college stuff. Vampires and demons and all the other things that put her in danger _every single night_ you should help her with when she asks"

"Guys it's really-"

"I can't always be there to guide her." Giles explained.

"Well you're here now"

"Do we really need to talk more about this?" Giles asked, exasperated and Joyce frowned at him.

"At this moment I'm thinking no" And she walked off into the bathroom closing and locking the door behind her. Giles sighed and turned to speak to Buffy but saw she had already walked left.

* * *

She hadn't spoken to Giles yet. She couldn't. She had gotten changed and left almost immediately and now she was back home. How could he just ignore Buffy's cry for help like that? It was so cold. She didn't like it one bit. It reminded her all too much that he had once been part of this unseen Watcher's Council for years and had in fact for just as long been on their side instead of Buffy's. But of course he cared for Buffy, there wasn't even a question of it, so why had he said no and why had she taken it worse than Buffy had? Storming off home. Childish really. And now she _was_ home. Alone. She missed Buffy being around. Even when she wasn't there all the time it was another presence in the house as she flitted in and out. And then the others had always come over-Willow, Xander, Oz, Cordelia…it had been nice. Joyce didn't think she'd have missed it so much, but she did. She walked out of her room to get some things from the boxes she was keeping in Buffy's room to see Buffy herself standing in the hall.

"Buffy"

"Hi Mom" She took in her Mom's casual t-shirt and jeans, "Dressed this time I see," She teased and her Mom looked suitably embarrassed.

"Yes, well…Buffy, your arm is hurt," She noticed Buffy was cradling her left arm, "You've been fighting"

"It's nothing really…" Buffy tried to convince her but her Mom was already ranting.

"I told Rupert he should have helped you. He didn't did he? And look what's happened" Joyce took a closer look at the arm.

"It's not his fault Mom. He's right-I've gotta learn to deal on my own"

"No." Joyce corrected her, "You've got to learn to live on your own, _cook_ on your own. Things like _this_ you need help with-you should have help with. It's the only thing that's going to keep you alive. This needs some ice" Holding Buffy's sore arm she led her down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"Have you spoken to Giles yet?" Buffy asked, trying to get away from the topic of her badly injured arm. Joyce sighed and paused for a moment. She shook her head.

"No, I haven't" She told her honestly, taking an ice pack out of the freezer and placing it on Buffy's arm. "Hold that there"

"You should you know…he was only trying to help"

"By not helping? Buffy, hold it on there" Buffy had stopped holding the ice pack and merely being balanced on her arm it had started to slide off. She grabbed it with her other hand before it landed on the floor.

"That's not how it works Mom" Buffy sighed, "I'm the slayer-I should be able to deal with these things on my own. If it was life or death Giles would always help"

"But isn't the slaying an everyday life or death thing?" Joyce asked, not sounding happy about the fact but acknowledging it was a fact nonetheless.

"Yeah…" Buffy agreed uneasily, "But it's not that" She was going to say simple when the phone rang.

"I'll get that," Joyce told her pointing at Buffy's sore arm, "You just keep holding the ice on it" Buffy sighed and rolled her eyes as though her Mom were being ridiculous but to be honest she felt happy at home. Made her forget about all the trouble she was facing at college. "Hello?" Joyce asked on the phone and got no answer, "Hello?" She hung the phone up after a moment, "Huh. They hung up." She shrugged, "Must have been a wrong number"

"I've gotta get going" Buffy said, standing up and putting the ice pack on the side.

"Buffy…"

"The arm'll be fine Mom. Slayer, remember?" Buffy told her, "Just talk to Giles, huh?" She asked as she started heading out the door, but her Mom looked like she was planning to do nothing of the sort. "Please"

"Fine, I'll call him or something." Joyce shrugged not sounding very eager.

"Good" Buffy told her. She may not be all accepting of the PDA between her Mom and Giles, but she was getting used to it and god forbid even liking the relationship they had and she didn't like the idea of them falling out. Especially over her. It was too much like her Mom and Dad when she was fifteen.

"Hmm" Joyce said as Buffy was out the door, "He's probably gone off to find that Olivia anyway" It wasn't true, but it felt good for a moment to be petty enough to say it. Even though Buffy was out the door she had heard what she said and walked back in.

"What? Who's Olivia?"

"Some girl from England he used to have a _thing_ with" Joyce explained.

"She was there today?"

"Yesterday" Joyce corrected her, "And she wasn't just there for 'catching up'. I bet he's gone off to meet her now and…"

Buffy sighed in exasperation.

"God, it's like dealing with two teenagers with you two sometimes" Buffy told her Mom, interrupting her Olivia rant, "Are you sure that candy _ever_ wore off?" Buffy asked as she left finally, not sure whether the question was a joke or not.

* * *

Okay so she skipped the 'calling him' part and had gone straight to heading over part in an attempt of reconciliation, part in rage. She wasn't quite sure yet which one she was going to lean towards when she came face to face with him but she knew she was going to have to decide soon as she was now stood on his front doorstep. She was about to knock on the door, after taking several deep breaths, when the door was pulled wide open and she saw him standing there, several weapons in his hands.

"Is this how you normally answer the door to people?" She asked.

"Joyce"

"Hi. Listen, I wanted to talk to you about be-" She took in the fact again that he was carrying weapons, "What-where are you going?"

"Well, ah, you see-"

"You're going to help Buffy?" She smiled.

"Yes, well, I decided you were right. I should be there for her when she needs help and so I'm just going to-" He stopped talking as she kissed him. He would have held her, but the crossbow and axe in his hands would have made it somewhat awkward.

* * *

"Hi honey" Joyce said over the phone when she heard her daughter's voice, "So everything worked out okay?"

"Yeah, pretty much. Vamps are done and dusted."

"Well, that's good…despite the fact you're telling me so late" Joyce joked looking at the very late time.

"So you talked to Giles then?" Buffy asked casually, not responding to her mother's tease.

"Yes, how did you know?"

"He turned up to help in the end. I assumed you'd told him to" Buffy admitted.

"No, honestly he decided to go himself" Buffy heard her Mother trying to convince her over the phone. She rolled her eyes at Willow.

"Yeah sure Mom" She agreed but the heard another voice, a man's, speaking in an indignant tone. "Have you got someone over?" Buffy asked innocently.

"What?" Joyce asked, obviously having been too busy talking to her guest to hear Buffy's question.

"Do you have someone over?" Buffy asked again and yet again her Mother wasn't listening.

"She thinks I made you go" Her Mom was whispering off the phone.

"Is that Giles?" Buffy asked and then looked at the time and saw it was either very late or very early depending from which side you decided to look at things. She opened her mouth in shock, "Have you got Giles over? At this…oh god, bye Mom" She said before hanging up quickly and throwing a look Willow's way who laughed at her reaction.


	2. Living Conditions

g120-haha. your groove comment really made me chuckle. hehe. and glad you liked the chapter and thanks for the review

zigpal- thank you very much for the review and happy you like the Joyce twists. hehe.

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So this is a chapter I actually wrote a while ago along with The Freshman but decided not to post it till I had written The Harsh Light of Day (Oh yes, that's me; all about the discipline, ha) 

So hope you guys like it and...you know the word...review. teehee

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It was mid-morning and soon coming up to midday and Joyce Summers was stood in her gallery wondering why the installed air conditioning was ineffective. The weather was extremely hot, too hot for business as very rarely on days like this did she get any customers. Must be something to do with the faulty air conditioning, but it shouldn't be faulty the price she'd paid for it. So the very few hours she had been there had dragged by as though it should already be closing time. She was tempted to close up now in fact. As she'd said before, with this weather there wouldn't be much business and so for the gallery to be closed for just _one_ day wouldn't be too much of a loss on her part and then she could actually be outside enjoying the weather rather than stuck inside admiring it through a window. Carole, the only person working today besides her had called in sick as well so she was completely alone. Closing up would not be such a crime. 

The chime above the door rang out as someone walked in, rousing Joyce from her thoughts. Figures, she thought to herself, just as I'm about to have myself a free a customer walks in. But then again, business was business. She turned around, a pleasant smile plastered on her face and saw Giles stood there and her smile became genuine.

"Rupert what are you doing here?" She asked.

"Just looking for pieces of African Art" He replied casually looking in one of the cabinets and she walked over to him.

"Really? Anything of interest?" She asked with a smile and he returned it.

"Yes…just wouldn't say it was African art," He told her, leaning in for a kiss, but she stepped out of the way gracefully in tease and she smiled to see it threw him off. He took another look round, "I see since that, ah, unfortunate incident, you're no longer shipping in Nigerian masks"

"No" She smiled warmly, "One zombie fest is enough don't you think?"

"Quite"

"So, you were saying what interests you about this little gallery of mine" She said walking back over to him, "Anything you favor in particular?"

"The human form" He grinned, "Particularly female…and one female in particular"

She smiled even more if that was possible as he put his hands around her waist and pulled her very close to him and she dissolved in his kiss. She pulled back for a moment.

"The woman is me right?" She asked and he laughed.

"Yes" and they were kissing again. "So, when I came in you looked about ready to leave"

"I was…I am." Joyce looked outside again, "I was never one for wanting to stay inside on a hot day." She thought for a moment, "It made growing up in California impractical…"

"So why don't we go somewhere?" He suggested.

"Where?" She laughed at his sudden impulsiveness.

"Anywhere" And cluelessness. She looked at the weather again.

"A walk. Just a walk" She answered.

* * *

"Boring…boring…bill…. bills" Buffy rifled through Giles' mail as she waited for him to return. She threw the mail on the table-none of it was interesting-and looked up when she heard girlish laughter echoing down the steps. She stood up when she saw it was her Mom and Giles trailing down the steps arm in arm and it was in fact her Mom's laughter she had heard. She realized she'd been hearing her Mom laugh a lot lately, even before she had left for College. Not that she hadn't laughed when it was just the two of them, but this was a new laugh and it had become more familiar to Buffy as she heard it more often. 

"Buffy" Joyce smiled and Buffy wondered whether she would ever get to talk to Giles alone again, ever. The two seemed joined at the hip recently.

"Hi" She didn't say anything else but held up a magazine that had come in Giles' mail.

"A motorbike and scooter magazine" Joyce squinted, looking at the cover. She then turned to Giles, "A motorbike and scooter magazine?"

"Oh congratulations you've found me out" He told them, snatching the magazine out of Buffy's hands and putting it back down on the outdoor table with the rest of his mail. "Not that your presence isn't welcome, but what are you doing here Buffy?"

"Demon. Made with the pummelling. Last night. Got away" Buffy explained and Joyce rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"_More_ demons? I thought that was a high school thing." Joyce said to them, "I thought at college the slaying would be more like a weekend activity"

"I wish" Buffy replied, looking at them both, "Do you know how hard it is trying to patrol on a college campus? These people act like they don't have homes"

"Buffy" Giles prompted, "the demon"

"Oh right. Yeah, well, he had a cloak on and glowing green eyes and skin had on like a super bad rub-on tan"

"Translate?" Giles asked and Joyce supplied the answer.

"Very orange"

"Ah"

"My roommate Kathy was there" Buffy told them, "But I don't think she saw anything."

"You took your new roommate on patrol?" Joyce asked, "You don't even like letting me research" She sounded offended and Buffy hurried to correct her.

"I didn't ask her-She kinda followed me." She explained, "I said I was going for a coffee and she decided to come with." She rolled her eyes, "It was _really_ annoying"

"Well, erm," Giles spoke, "I don't think I recognize the demon, but, ah, I" He looked at Joyce, "or we will do some research. We'll call you if we find anything"

The two went to head into his apartment but Buffy jumped in front of them, blocking their path and they stopped.

"How come you're going inside? It's nice out here" Buffy told them and her Mother, at least, took in the comment as she looked around.

"It is isn't it?" She looked at Giles, "Maybe we should stay out here. I mean that was the whole point of me getting out of the gallery wasn't it?"

"Yes I suppose so" Giles smiled and the two went and sat down at the small table leaving Buffy standing. Buffy followed them.

"Buffy what is it?" Joyce asked catching on that her daughter wanted something. She was acting the same way she did when she was five and wanted attention.

"What do you mean?" Buffy asked innocently.

"You want to ask something or just want something full stop. I can tell" Joyce pointed out.

"Nothing" Buffy insisted, "I was just wondering what you two were up to today?"

"Nice try" Joyce said to her, throwing her a pointed look, "No way in heaven or hell are you going to convince me that you suddenly moved from 'wigged out' to asking how we're going to be spending the day together. Spill"

Buffy sighed uncomfortably as she realized her Mom had figured her out.

"Okay fine. It's Kathy"

"The roommate?" Joyce double-checked and Buffy nodded.

"She's just…." She struggled to explain, "She puts up Celine Dion posters and plays Cher songs over and over again!" They both stared at her blankly, not seeing the big deal except for the girl's incredible lack of taste, but that wasn't the worst thing you could find in a roommate. "And she's chipper!" Buffy added.

"By god, of course." Giles said, sounding deadly serious.

"What? What is it?" Buffy asked, wondering whether Giles had figured out there was more to her roommate than meets the eye. She certainly wouldn't be surprised that was for sure. .

"She's a chipper roommate with a liking for pop songs. Of course you have to kill her," He told her, deadpan.

"Giles" Buffy whined. "She's _psychotically_ chipper"

"Buffy" Joyce smiled at her daughter patiently, "It sounds to me like you're just having trouble adjusting to having to share a room with someone else. Share everything. It's hard for everyone, but you're an only child and you pretty much had the house to yourself…"

"I know" Buffy accepted, "It's probably just me being the uber bitch….except it's not" Giles and Joyce rolled their eyes at each other and Buffy decided to pretend she didn't see that, "Can I just hang with you guys…until she goes to class?"

"That's absolutely fine honey," Joyce told her confidently and Buffy smiled. She could always rely on her Mom no matter what. Of course that Mom at the moment was making with the lip locking with Giles and Buffy was staring in pure morbid fascination and she needed to look away fast,

"I'm gone" She told them, "See ya" She ran off up the stairs and the couple chuckled.

"I knew that'd move her," Joyce said.

"You don't think we should have let her stay?" Giles asked.

"We did." She said honestly and then smiled, "She's got to learn to deal with these things. Slaying-we're here. College roommates-she's going to _have_ to stop avoiding."

* * *

Wine and music was long since forgotten-the CD left playing and the wine left waiting in its glasses. Giles and Joyce's arms were tangled about each other. Joyce adored the way he kissed- he didn't just kiss with his lips, he kissed with his whole mouth with as much eagerness as there was gentility. Perfect. They were on the living room sofa and they fell onto it horizontally as his hands combed through her hair (the only man so far not to have got his fingers tangled in the curls. Impressive) and she put her arms around his back to pull him closer and tighter to her. 

The phone rang. The couple sighed in frustration.

"One of us is going to have to pick it up" Joyce sighed as the phone continued to ring.

"Why?"

"Because you don't have a darn answer phone that's why" Joyce told him, not moving from where she was as reached over the sofa and picked up the phone. "Hello? Willow!" The moment she realized who was on the other end of the phone she jumped up from under Giles and stood up straight next to the arm of the sofa. "Yes, it's me Willow. I was just…yes okay" With her back to him; she didn't see when Giles got up on the sofa to stand behind her. "Was there a particular reason you called? Did you need to speak to…ah-ah-ah" Her words were taken over by involuntarily utterances as his warm lips kissed her along the nape of her neck.

"Mrs Summers?" Willow asked concerned.

"Sorry…I…tripped" Joyce made up an excuse, "And please, you're an adult now" She took a step away from the sofa and therefore also from Giles towards the nearby wall, being careful not to pull the phone off the table; she had very little phone cord left, "Joyce is fine. So what's the matter?"

"Okay…erm, _Joyce_" Saying the name felt weird to Willow, "It's Buffy"

"What about-oof" Giles, shamefully unable to contain himself had gone after Joyce again, despite the fact she had taken a step away and as she ran out of phone cord she backed up into the wall painfully.

"Mrs, erm, Joyce?" Willow asked, concerned.

"Sorry, walked into a wall" Joyce explained honestly this time. "Carry on" She tried to ignore how she felt as Giles worked his hands along her waist, under her blouse, so his warm hands brushed her bare skin. She tried to focus on what Willow was saying and she was, to an extent, till his hands started drifting up her body slowly and her breathing started to become slightly erratic. "As in Buffy's roommate Kathy?" Joyce managed to ask without gasping aloud. Okay now his hands, and where they were, were _really_ distracting her and having essentially pinned her against the wall, she didn't have anywhere to go. "So, ah, what is it Buffy thinks?" Joyce asked and as she involuntarily let out a pleasure-filled gasp, she put one hand over the receiver so Willow wouldn't have heard. Then two things Willow said brought Joyce shooting back down to earth. One was that her daughter had possibly been possessed by a demon. The other "Buffy's heading over here now?!" She exclaimed and Giles hands dropped away immediately as he took in what she said.

* * *

After explaining everything to Joyce and so also Giles, Willow put the phone down and turned to Oz who had headed over during the conversation. She frowned. 

"Mrs Summers, I mean Joyce- man that's weird to say, well she sounded weird on the phone"

"Weird how?" Oz asked.

"I don't know…maybe she was bored or something. I mean Giles _can_ go on a bit. It was bound to happen sooner or later"

* * *

"Giles?" Buffy called out stepping into the apartment. No answer. She thought for a moment before calling "Mom?" Still no answer. "Anybody home at all?" She stepped further into the room when she still received no reply. There was an eerie silence and she looked around in query. 

Suddenly a large net fell down on top of her and while Oz and Xander came running from one direction her Mom and Giles came in from another.

"What are you guys doing?" Buffy asked outraged and her Mom looked very apologetic.

"We're so sorry Buffy" She then looked at Giles and spoke to him in accusatory tone, "You didn't tell me you were going to tie her up!" He shrugged apologetically.

"Well, we don't know what she's capable of" he reasoned but Joyce wasn't convinced as she looked over at Xander and Oz trying to tie her daughter up.

"Rupert, you're having Xander and Oz tie my daughter's hands behind her back. How can you think that would be fine? No wonder you didn't tell me." She'd been told the net was to check she didn't have any weapons or even Kathy with her. Her guillability had just been permanently destroyed.

Giles sighed. He knew where Joyce was coming from, but he needed to convince her fast

"Well, we don't know how far the possession has gone" Giles explained, "This is most definitely the safer option for everyone _including_ Buffy" Joyce nodded in acceptance, but still didn't look happy with the scenario.

"Possession? Possession?" Buffy asked struggling around in the net as Xander and Oz tied her hands tightly behind her back. "I'm not possessed. This-ow-this is _ridiculous_. It's Kathy!"

"Honey please don't be mad" Joyce asked but simply received a mad, evil look from her daughter and she took a step backwards in concern.

"Now Buffy" Xander told as he tied the final knots "This hurts me a lot more than it hurts you"

"Not yet, but it will" She replied honestly and he did a double take as he realized what she'd said.

"Oh PLEASE don't say that!" He pleaded, his eyes widening in panic.

"Is she capable of hurting someone?" Joyce asked

"Under provocation drastic measures will be called" Buffy said as she struggled against the ropes.

"I don't think so" Giles said seeing Joyce's worried expression, "But well…don't worry. We'll, erm, we'll figure something out I'm sure. Buffy!" He exclaimed as the slayer elbowed a poor Oz in the face.

"Buffy!" Joyce also reprimanded in shock.

"I've had worse," Oz admitted, rubbing his nose as Giles and Xander lead Buffy over to a chair.

"What are you doing now?" Joyce asked as she watched the two tie more ropes, "You're not _tying _her to the _chair_ are you?" She exclaimed, "Rupert, no. You can't do that."

"Listen to Mom" Buffy told him "And stop tying me to the goddamn chair!" She struggled again as the two men stepped back having finished. She couldn't break free at the moment but she could feel a slight looseness and she knew if she worked on it she could easily break free. She'd just have to be sneaky about it. She stopped struggling.

"Clearly something is amiss," Giles announced.

"Ya think?" Joyce asked incredulously throwing a concerned look in her daughter's direction.

"It's Kathy!" Buffy repeated her argument fervently, "Kathy Newman!"

"Honey, she's just your roommate" Joyce tried to calm her, "I know she's a little stressful but you're-"

"A _little_ stressful?! Lite FM! Love songs! Nothing but love songs! _Believe_ over and over again!"

"I fear the demon Buffy said she met in the woods may have take possession of her" Giles summarised.

"The UberTan?" Xander asked and he nodded, "Buffy told us about that"

"From what she said, none too attractive" Oz added.

"I'm still here!" Buffy sounded outraged and she tugged at the ropes again. "Giles! Look in my bag!" Giles did so "No-look in the bottom pocket…no that's the side…Mom!" Buffy whined when she realized Giles had no clue about handbag geography and Joyce rushed forward to look in the bag and immediately reached into the right pocket. Good for Buffy, bad for Joyce as she pulled out the plastic baggie inside.

"Buffy" Joyce grimaced, "Toenails?" She automatically handed the bag to Giles who took it reluctantly.

"_Kathy's_ toenails"

"Still seeing that as a step too far Buff" Xander commented but Buffy in her maddened state ignored him.

"They grow after they're detached!" Buffy explained, "She irons her jeans! She's evil! She _has_ to be destroyed!"

"Um you stay and watch her," Giles told them, "I know a spell that will make the possessing demon reveal itself so that we can fight it but, erm, I need to get some ah some supplies from the magic shop."

"Do you want me to come with you?" Joyce asked and Giles saw that her heart wasn't in the question; she clearly and rightly so wanted to stay with her daughter.

"No it's best if you stay here with these two and watch Buffy" She nodded, "Buffy I…see you around" He left quickly, after a brief kiss from Joyce, baggie in hand and the room was silent except for the sound of Buffy struggling against the ropes.

"Buffy it's better if you don't struggle…you'll hurt yourself" Joyce advised clearly unhappy with the situation. Buffy didn't answer but merely continued to struggle with the ropes.

"I can't believe this" Buffy eventually spoke up as she stopped squirming for a moment, "after all we've been through together you won't believe me when I tell you Kathy is bad"

"We want to Buff…" Xander began to reason but Oz stopped him.

"Shh…don't engage"

"Oh shouldn't one of us call Willow?" Joyce asked remembering that it was in fact Willow who had informed of this, "She's probably wondering where Buffy is now."

"Yeah, last time I saw we were both doing the search thing" Oz agreed, "I figured she may have gone where Willow told her to and well, came here"

"Do you want to call her?" Joyce asked him, pointing to the phone in the other room as the living room phone was too dangerously close to Buffy to be used.

"You'd better actually" Oz reasoned.

"Why?" Xander asked with a frown.

"We're doing the man thing" Oz informed him, "Guarding Buffy" Joyce headed off into the next room to make the phone call and the two guys glanced over at Buffy who was again struggling with her ropes.

"I don't know if I tightened those ropes tight enough" Xander worried and Oz frowned in equal worry.

"Then we'd better go over there and check 'em," He suggested and Xander laughed at Oz making with the funny till he realized his friend's face was dead serious. He looked over at the venomous look Buffy was throwing them and his eyes widened in genuine fear.

"Oh dear GOD." The two started edging forward and Xander started chanting 'avoid the legs' like a mantra.

Joyce had just ended the short phone call to Willow and had walked back into the living room in time to see Buffy stood, rope-free, and knocking Oz and Xander out.

"Nope, not tight enough"

"Buffy!" Joyce reprimanded in a way that she could have as easily been telling Buffy off in high school for not tidying her room.

"Sorry Mom" Buffy apologized, "Gotta go. I've got a roommate to slay" She headed forward to leave the house but Joyce grabbed her arms and stopped her.

"Buffy you can't be serious" She reasoned, "At least wait until Rupert comes back"

"He thinks I'm possessed." Buffy argued straightforwardly.

"Yes but-"

"But I'm not. Kathy's evil and I'm going to stop her."

"Buffy, no." Joyce grabbed Buffy's arms again, "Just wait-"

* * *

She hadn't meant to shove her away that hard. She had temporarily forgotten what a slayer powered shove could do to an ordinary woman. She hadn't hit her head that hard though. Not that hard. She'd be fine. Buffy just needed to stop Kathy first. She was the slayer. Demons were priority. She was near her dorm now.

* * *

Giles was rushing back to his apartment. After arriving in his car he practically ran to his front door, holding the baggie tightly as though the toenails themselves proved how he had shown Buffy was in fact right. As he reached the front door he bumped straight into Willow who came from the other direction. 

"Oh!" Willow exclaimed shocked by the sudden impact.

"Sorry Willow I…" He trailed off as he saw the front door was in fact wide open He peered through, taking a few cautious steps forward and saw Joyce unconscious on the floor and he instantly ran toward her. Willow followed and seeing an equally unconscious Xander and Oz she hurried over to check her boyfriend.

"Joyce" Giles shook her gently, "Oh God. Joyce" She slowly came to though her eyes blinked open hazily unsure of where she was and then the pain in her head kicked in.

"Ow, ow, ow" she complained putting a hand to her head. "Buffy" she managed to mumble out but Giles wasn't really listening as he led her to comfort of the sofa.

Xander arose from unconsciousness to see Oz awake in Willow's arms and Joyce rubbing her head in a daze in Giles' arms. Xander sighed in frustration.

"How come I'm the one who doesn't have someone to give the after-knock-out comfort?" He complained. "Why couldn't you have shackles like any other self-respecting…" he trailed off as he saw the embarrassed looks exchanged between Giles and Joyce, "Never mind. So G-man what did you find?"

"Erm," Giles began unhelpfully as he double-checked the back of Joyce's head to find there was no visible damage, "Toenails!" He exclaimed as he got back onto the right thought track. "Kathy's toenails don't only keep growing after they've been cut, they actually regenerate after they've been destroyed"

"And that's a demon thing?" Willow assumed and Giles nodded

"Unequivocally," Giles answered and then looked around, "Where is Buffy?"

"I didn't get this bump by _walking_ into a wall" Joyce pointed out to him and his eyes widened.

"Buffy escaped. Knocked us out" Xander elaborated.

"Oh dear, then we have even less time than I feared" Giles informed them, leaving Joyce reluctantly for a moment to gather some supplies, "I've looked up all known regenerating demons and only one species practices the ritual that featured in Buffy's dreams. It's used to steal a soul from the human body"

"The soul?" Joyce asked her eyes widening in fear for her daughter, "Buffy's soul is being taken from her?" She felt sick at the thought. Of course the concussion was a contributing factor.

"It would explain the Linda Blair action" Xander commented.

"Kinda takes 'roommate from hell' to a whole new level" Oz added thoughtfully.

"So Buffy was right all along…" Willow said, "Later on; big remorse"

"I think I'll live with myself," Joyce admitted as she again rubbed her head to try and ease the pain. It worked…slightly.

"Now I've found a spell that should reverse the soul transference procedure completely," Giles told them as he flicked past another page in a spell book, before handing the book over to Willow. "Willow and I will perform it at once"

"Leaving us to deal with Buffy in the flesh" Oz announced and Joyce immediately went to stand up to offer help.

"I'll…" She trailed off as she swayed lightly as she became overcome with dizziness. She sank back into her seat, "stay and help these" She decided to finish her sentence with and Oz and Xander ran off to help Buffy.

* * *

"I'm so glad honey. I'm surprised you didn't think of Willow when you first moved into your dorms" Joyce said over the phone. 

"Well, you know…" Buffy trailed off, "I'm sorry I hit you"

"Knocked me out" Joyce corrected and Buffy groaned.

"I'm so sorry! You know it was that soul thing right?"

"Yes" Joyce smiled, "Don't worry about it…I'm sure the concussion was nothing" She added just to make her daughter wince again.

"If you'd have just let me go…" Buffy reasoned.

"So everything's okay at College then?" Joyce asked

"The most greatest of okays" Buffy assured her, "Well, I've gotta go. Classes-you know those things they expect you to go to"

"I think I vaguely remember them" Joyce joked, "Bye sweetie" She hung up and settled back into her seat on her living room sofa next to Giles. "Well all is well on the college front," She informed him.

"Good to know" He said and then frowned as she sighed showing something clearly was on her mind, "What's the matter?"

"She's never going to be free of it is she?" He didn't need to ask what 'it' was.

"No" He answered honestly.

"I thought 'hey college she won't be directly on a hellmouth anymore'. I thought her life would become a little more slayer-lite…" She trailed off thinking of all the other times Buffy had almost become slayer-lite just to have the opportunity snatched from her. She hadn't even had a proper graduation. None of her class year had.

"She has a lot more than other slayers have had" Giles reasoned, reading her thoughts. "Friends…a great Mum…"

"You" Joyce added and he smiled. She still didn't look happy though, far from it, as she understandably worried for her daughter's safety and well being in the coming year. She couldn't help wondering for a moment whether Giles would be there come crunch time and soon shook the thought aside. She really shouldn't doubt him. There was no reason to, but she and Buffy had been hurt before and the more she fell into this relationship the more she feared it would happen again. Also, no matter what she had said the previous week she didn't believe she had quite forgiven him for initially leaving Buffy on her own to deal with the vampires that had been plaguing the campus on her first week at college.


	3. The Harsh Light of Day

Zigpal- Thanks for the review. Ah yes, the scooby intiation of...Getting Knocked Out. Haha.

And I'm honestly not sure what I'm going to do with Riley. Coz I did think him a little too clean marine for Buffy...but I need him or The Intiative link. So I'm going to have to work on that one. hehe.

* * *

"I should get a drawer"

"A drawer? Pardon?" Giles was very confused at Joyce's sudden outburst as the two sat close together not unlike yin-yang on his living room sofa.

"I spend so much time here a drawer would be nice," She explained and she saw he was still frowning. She sighed in exasperation. All men were clueless. "Remember that thing where we're a couple? Well couples have drawers. You know for clothing practicality? Drawers"

"As in chest of?" He asked and she nodded.

"Just to put a few of my things in. You know…for those spontaneous overnight stays" She explained further and he smiled warmly as he ran his fingers through her hair soothingly as she leant her head on his arm.

"I don't think that would be too bad of an idea" He agreed, "Though it might encourage you to stay over more often perhaps" She looked at him.

"You would have a problem with that?" She asked innocently.

"Not at all" Giles argued, "Just afraid I may never let you go home"

She kissed him but he pulled away as he pointed in the direction of the next room.

"Had you forgotten we are not alone in the residence?" He reminded her referring to Xander doing some odd jobs for him in exchange for a bit of cash in the next room. Joyce just shrugged as she slid over to sit on his knee.

"Just think of it as payback" She told him seductively before kissing him again and Giles suddenly remembered the phone call last week.

"But Xander is _actually_ in the next room" Giles pointed out, breaking the kiss again.

"Well as long we don't do anything more than kiss" Joyce reasoned with a smile, "then it isn't really a problem is it?"

"Guess not…" Giles agreed, feeling helpless to argue as they kissed again.

"You should lock your door," A voice said and the two broke apart to see a petite brunette walking into the living room purposely.

"Believe me, I'm kicking myself" Giles assured her. He recognized the girl from somewhere but couldn't quite place her till Joyce said.

"Aren't you the girl who was Xander's date? For the prom?" Joyce asked.

"Anya!" Giles exclaimed, suddenly remembering her name, "The girl who _almost_ helped with the ascension" Anya frowned at the way he said almost but was undeterred.

"Is Xander around?"

"He's just in the other room helping out..." Joyce informed her, getting up off the sofa to walk over to her with a smile, "We haven't seen you in a while, you look well"

"Is this that thing women do in which you compliment me without genunuity and I in response return the favor?" Anya asked her face strangely serious as she asked the question.

"Erm…" Joyce wasn't quite sure how to respond.

"Because I really don't see the point" Anya said honestly with a bored sigh and roll of the eyes before she started peering around Joyce, "Is Xander around?" She asked again.

"Xan…erm, Xander!" Joyce called, throwing a stunned and puzzled look Anya's way as she called the teen boy's name, "Anya's here to see you!" Xander came into the room just as Joyce sat back down next to Giles to watch the scene between the potential couple from afar. It had the potential to turn out more interesting than an episode of _Passions_.

"Anya?" Xander said her name in surprise. Even when Joyce had shouted her name, he had been positive that he must have misheard her. After all, "Last time I saw you, you were fleeing in terror. How'd that work out for ya?"

Anya didn't answer, mainly because she didn't want to, and instead looked at Giles and Joyce pointedly.

"I need to talk to Xander," She told them, but the two of them merely nodded instead of getting up and leaving the room as she expected them to. Didn't they get the definition of private conversation? She sighed in annoyance, "Go away" She insisted but they still refused to move and Giles threw her a look that told her not to ask them to move again. She rolled her eyes and grabbed Xander's hand to lead him outside, "Xander come with me"

As soon as the front door closed behind them Joyce and Giles looked at each other with raised eyebrows.

"I thought she left town," Joyce said and Giles shrugged.

"Clearly Xander thought the same thing. I do hope he doesn't consider getting involved with her"

"Why not? She's a perfectly nice girl."

"An ex-demon who enjoyed wreaking evil vengeance on the male race" Giles pointed out, "Xander has had bad luck with demonesses before…I hope it isn't the start of a pattern…"

"Well, I think they'd make a great couple" She did honestly believe that. If what Buffy had told her was true, and there was no reason to say that it wasn't, then Xander hadn't had a girlfriend since Cordelia, which was truly a shame since it was clear that he was such a nice boy. He was just unfortunately not the typical all-looker type that a lot of girls tended to go for, but Anya seemed to be one of the few non-shallow ones roaming around and actually saw Xander for the great guy he was. Plus, they interestingly contrasted against one another and Joyce genuinely thought that would mean that they would compliment each other perfectly in a relationship. Yin-Yang was all about that wasn't it? Contrasts working harmonically.

"She's an ex-demon" Giles argued straightforwardly. He knew Anya was human now, but what she was well, he'd come across Vengeance Demons before and it wasn't pretty- visually or metaphorically. And after Xander's bad luck concerning things such things as a giant she-mantis he believed a relationship with Anya could only end badly for Xander.

"But she's human now isn't she?" Joyce asked and Giles nodded silently, "Well then you can't just judge and identify her by what demon she _was._ That's…." Was there even a term for it? Joyce doubted it, "That's something-ism." She improvised. Giles sighed.

"I just don't think it'll be good for him. Dating a demon-"

"_Ex_-demon"

"Dating an ex-demon, it has a lot of complications. She may end up finding out some bad things from his past that could seriously damage their relationship"

"_His_ past?" Joyce asked, picking up on the slip-up.

"H-her past" He corrected himself immediately, fully aware of his Freudian slip. He couldn't make his own issues Xander's issues. The two situations were entirely different. Anya was a demon, he had…well he'd helped create a demon that…that killed one of his friends…but it just wasn't the same!

Joyce knew what he was thinking and she couldn't deny the fact that she was concerned. Or was concerned the word? It was shameful to admit, but she in fact felt more intrigued by that part of his past than anything else. Either way she knew now was not the time to get into it. Especially with the possibility of Xander and Anya walking back in at any moment. She decided to let it slide.

"Well, I think they would be a cute couple. Safe" She sighed as she thought back on Buffy's one 'safe' relationship that had turned out anything but. Angel. "I'm just glad Buffy has a chance now. Relationship-wise" she spoke her thoughts.

"Hmm?"

"Well, with Angel and everything that happened she never really had a chance at a normal relationship did she?" He shook his head in agreement. Buffy had had very little dealings with normal relationships in High School if such a thing existed. After all, Willow had a werewolf for a boyfriend, there was the girl with the Jekyll and Hyde boyfriend, Xander had dated…well, he'd dated Cordelia which had been an oddly matched couple to say the least. "So now she's in college and away from all that she has a chance to meet the nice boy from Iowa" Joyce carried on. "I'm just glad she's just responsible enough not to do anything…well, sudden…racy" she mused.

"Racy?" Giles repeated with a raised eyebrow and Joyce nodded, "Like having sex on the hood of a police car?"

* * *

"Harmony Kendall? That little blonde girl who used to hang around with Cordelia?" 

"The very same" Buffy confirmed over the phone to her Mom who was relaying the information back to Giles. Joyce knew the sensible thing to do would be to hand the phone over to Giles, but she hadn't seen her daughter in over a week and it was nice to talk to her even if it was over the phone and about vampires.

"But how could…"

"Graduation must have been when it happened. There were a lot of vamps there" Buffy hazarded a guess and Joyce was immediately taken back to that day and she thought of all the other children who'd lost their lives that day. She couldn't think like that. She had to focus on the hundreds and hundreds of lives that were saved.

"And she was with Spike?" Joyce asked. She had told Giles the information and he had been incredibly shocked that Harmony would be dating him, but Joyce was more thinking how odd it was that it was dating anyone after his terrible feelings over his break up with Drusilla. Maybe it was a rebound thing.

"Yeah if you can believe it. He ran away though, can't figure why" Buffy explained further, "Harmony said potential clueage though. Something about a gem…of Amara?" Joyce pulled the phone away from her ear to repeat the information to Giles.

"Gem of Amara ring any bells?" She asked and Giles' face registered surprise followed by confusion.

"The gem of…are you sure?" Joyce nodded. "It's just it's not real." Joyce explained this to Buffy before turning back to Giles.

"She said Spike was sure of its existence. Enough to want to keep it quiet from her anyway"

"Well it's the vampire equivalent of the Holy Grail" Giles explained, still sounding slightly confused, "It was supposed to be the source of enormous power. Erm, many vampires searched for it until it was eventually deemed non-existent. Are you sure that's what Spike is here for?"

"Well, we'll, erm, we'll start researching honey" Joyce told her daughter once she had passed on the Gem information.

"Yeah" Buffy said distractedly as she glanced over at the party where Parker was waiting for her, "I'm think enough slayage for now." She faked a yawn, "Sleep now. Bed for me."

"Okay sweet-" Joyce stopped as she suddenly became suspicious of her daughter's tone of voice, "Wait, you're not going to bed at all are you?" She asked knowingly.

"What? Pfft! Of course I am! Banter with Spike and seeing Harmony is mentally exhausting"

"Buffy…"

"I need my beauty sleep."

"Buffy"

"What?"

"I can even hear the party music"

"It's really _that_ loud? Oh, okay, fine I'm being the party girl for once."

"And I don't have a problem with that" Joyce told her honestly, "It's nice you're getting a taste of _real_ college life for once instead of the slay version"

"There's a but" Buffy pointed out, "I can hear it in your voice"

"It's just…" she sighed. She knew in her gut that Buffy wasn't just heading back to a party, but to someone she'd left waiting there. She didn't want to be the prying Mother though. After all, Buffy was an adult now. "Just don't do anything _too_ rash, huh?"

"Bye Mom" Buffy replied and Joyce could hear the rolling of her eyes in her voice as she hung up the phone.

"So what's Buffy going to do now?" Giles asked as Joyce took her seat again on the sofa in her living room.

"Erm…bed, I guess" Joyce answered knowing if any beds were going to be involved it wouldn't be for sleeping.

"Hmm…bed" Giles repeated suggestively but before he could reach over to her she had stood up, looking agitated.

"I spoke to Willow a bit ago and she mentioned someone called Parker" She told him but he didn't looked anymore clued up, "It's just…he _sounds_ you know…_that type_." She said pointedly, "I hope Buffy knows what she's getting into. In fact, I just hope she doesn't get into at all." She knew that was a pointless wish though, but she just didn't want her little girl getting hurt. She'd been through enough of that with Angel. But she was going to get hurt, everybody did, and it couldn't be prevented. Buffy was a strong person with a good head on her shoulders. "She'll be okay" Joyce said to Giles.

"She'll be fine" He assured her, fully believing his own words and Joyce nodded in agreement, trying to convince herself. Suddenly she found herself being pulled over the arm of couch and onto his lap. She smiled widely. She'd liked the impulsive swooping gestures he sometimes made. Liked them a lot. Concerns over Buffy and Parker briefly flitted across her mind before his mouth was on hers and all thoughts of the entire day were forgotten as with each time he pulled her closer to him, she wanted more. She broke away for a second and he looked puzzled until he saw her lean over the side of the sofa and pull out the phone cord. No phonecallin interruptus tonight. She resumed the kiss sensually and slowly.

* * *

"Research can be such a drag," Joyce complained with a teenage pout. It was a few hours later and the couple had regained some decorum as they realized Buffy would actually need research on the Gem of Amara by tomorrow and none of it would be achieved if they had kept on with what they had been doing previously. 

"Well, it seems the end is nigh" Giles announced as he looked through he most recent book. They were back at his place where more helpful research could be done. Helpful in the sense that the required books were actually here. He had initially intended to set off on his own, but Joyce hadn't been keen on the idea of him leaving her all alone and had insisted she tag along and convincing him she could help. She could look through the books and try and find information all right, but she was worse than Cordelia and Buffy combined if the information wasn't found within the hour. That is she clearly stated the 'pastime' was boring. However, Giles had viewed it as slightly irritating when it was Cordy and Buffy, but in Joyce he shamefully found himself considering it cute. What was this woman doing to him?

"You've actually found something?" Joyce asked and he nodded.

"Yes, I believe I have" He told her as he headed over to the phone and called Buffy. The phone kept ringing with no answer until it was directed to the machine. "Buffy, are you there? Call me, I need to talk to you right away" He waited a moment to see if she would pick up but there was no answer. He hung up with a puzzled shrug and sat back down next to Joyce.

"She wasn't there?" Joyce asked.

"No, it went to answer machine. She must be a heavy sleeper" He commented naively, not yet clicking.

"Oh my god" Joyce exclaimed, her eyes wide as _she_ clicked straight away.

"What?" He asked in worry.

"She's doing something rash"

* * *

Buffy slouched into her dorm, her thoughts still on her night with Parker as she started to undo the straps of her top. 

"Good morning" She jumped. Giles' voice was not something she was supposed to hear in her dorm. She abruptly stopped undressing and turned to see Giles and Willow sat at the computer desk with, well, with a computer. Buffy put her top back on fully.

"Giles I didn't know you were here" She told him as though her undressing didn't clue him up on that fact.

"Uh, really?" Giles asked sarcastically, but the look he was throwing her made her instantly paranoid and her brain searched for some excuse she cold give him to explain where she'd been all night since the last time she had spoken to him (well through her Mom anyway) she had told him she was going to bed.

"I was studying at the library" Yeah, real believable Buffy, "All Saturday night" And you just keep getting more and more far-fetched don't you? Giles was looking at her unconvinced and Willow just looked uncomfortable. She decided to change tact, "You know what? I'm an adult now and it's none of your business where I was"

"It wouldn't be too far-fetched to say it was mine though would it?" Another voice Buffy _shouldn't_ have been hearing asked and Buffy turned around to see her Mom sat on her bed. Though once Buffy spotted her, she stood up and never had Buffy been more aware of the 4 inches her mother had on her height wise, heels or no heels.

"Erm…" Buffy attempted to answer before realizing the question was rhetorical. Of course it _never_ stopped being a Mother's business. More's the pity.

"Buffy, I asked you not to doing anything rash" Joyce complained and Buffy immediately argued back.

"I didn't!" Her Mom's look told her that that lie had a face so bare _naturists_ would be embarrassed. "So what if I did?" Buffy decided the best defence was a good offence.

"Buffy this Parker-"

"How did you know about-" Buffy began to ask but then spun around to see Willow looking guilty. She rolled her eyes before resuming her argument with her Mom, "Parker happens to understand me" Now it was Joyce's turn to roll her eyes.

"Don't tell me _that's_ the one you've fallen for?" Joyce asked and the two, feeling they were being watched, walked over to the other side of the room simultaneously hoping for a little more privacy.

"What one?"

"The one in which he feeds you lines that seem somehow to _strangely_ link back to you"

"Parker wasn't like that" Buffy argued, "He just knows what it's like to not know if you're gonna make it through the next day. That life is-"

"Short and you should take chances. Not blow of classes, but live life to the full?" Joyce finished, uncannily reciting an almost exact phrase to that of Parker and it caused Buffy to stumble for a moment. Had Parker been feeding her a line? No, she shook her head, she'd felt a connection between the two of them, she knew that much. Plus, would he really use his own Father's _death_ as a line?

"Parker is a great guy. You just, you just don't understand" Buffy argued but her Mom shook her head.

"No Buffy, the problem is, I understand all too well. I've been to college I know what it's like and-"

"So you know I have to start making my own decisions. I'm an adult now Mom, you can't keep _butting_ in like this!"

"Buffy" Joyce sighed, deciding to move past the fact she had been offended, "I just, there are a lot of bad things out there that aren't vampires or things that Buffy the Slayer will face, but things Buffy the Student will. I don't want you making the same mistakes I did and I don't want you getting hurt. Decisions like this _always_ end badly"

"Decisions like what?" Buffy scoffed, "I'm an adult-I have to make my own decisions _and_ my own mistakes. You can't lead me through it step-by-step. I have to be out on my own."

"I know that" Joyce agreed, "But that doesn't mean I won't stop looking out for you. I care about you too much to just ignore everything"

"And I'm not asking you to" Buffy sighed, "Just trust me. I know Parker's a good thing. He's a great guy and there's definitely something between us. You'll see. I'm not going to get hurt"

Joyce knew that wasn't true, she knew Buffy was going to get hurt a lot and Parker was apparently going to be the first. She wanted to protect her so much, to stop her from having to go through all that, but she knew that some of what Buffy said was right. She did have to let her make her own mistakes- it was the only way she would grow into the person she will one day become. After all, she couldn't protect Buffy forever. She sighed as she decided to let it go.

"Okay. Fine."

"Back to research?" Buffy smiled and Joyce shrugged.

"Why not? Let's go stop some impending disaster. Again"

* * *

The ring sat on the table looking harmless, powerless and also kinda pretty. 

"We don't destroy it" Buffy said, her face sombre.

"Buffy, you saw what happened with Spike…" Joyce argued and Giles nodded in agreement

"And if another vampire ever got his hands on…oh" He trailed off as he realized what Buffy intended to do with the ring.

"I have that gig in L.A. I could swing by"

"Thanks Oz" Buffy smiled gratefully. Xander, the ever clueless one frowned.

"What's going on? What's in L.A.?"

"She's giving the ring to Angel. Don't make a fuss" Willow urged him in a whisper.

"Buffy are you sure?" Giles checked and Buffy nodded.

"He should have it." Suddenly the sound of whistling sounded out through the room and Giles remembered the tea and he went to go into the kitchen, but Willow and Oz stopped him before he could leave the room.

"None for us Giles. We gotta go" Willow explained.

"Go?" Xander asked.

"Girlfriend. Boyfriend. Mutually agreed upon by a sharing of dates" Oz explained and Xander smirked at him.

"Fine then you miss my fun night with Anya"

"So you won't be staying either?" Giles asked at the same time Joyce said, "You and Anya have a date?"

"No on the staying, yes on the date," Xander explained before frowning. "Actually it's not really a date so much as Anya insisting I take her somewhere and this being the only way to keep her quiet"

"Sounds like my marriage…" Joyce mused and Xander let out a worried laugh before getting up.

As the three said bye and left and Giles went into the kitchen Joyce looked over at her daughter who was at next to her on the sofa. She was just looking at her feet, her expression more saddened than Picasso's Weeping Woman.

"He didn't call" Buffy said simply and Joyce didn't have to ask who 'he' was.

"Oh Buffy…"

"You were right. He said he just saw it as 'fun'. A one night stand. _Real_ fun" She added sarcastically. She looked her Mom in the eye, "Are you mad I didn't listen to you?" Joyce looked down at her daughter in utter sympathy.

"Of course I'm mad," She told her, "At Parker. I'm so mad at him it's actually to the point where I am considering locking in him in a room with Spike and Harmony for them to feed on him…. but not you. I could never be mad at you for this. Never. I'm just so sorry you have to go through this. It's not fair" She sighed as she tried to blink away her own tears. Buffy looked close to turning on the waterworks already and she didn't want to set her off, "It was a mistake. One you undoubtedly were going to make at some point, but you have to remember it's not important because _he_ is. Not. Important." Buffy nodded weakly, not really accepting or taking in what her Mother was saying but hearing it nonetheless. Joyce brushed back her daughter's hair with her hand so the long stands were tucked behind her ear. Buffy didn't even flinch away like she normally did ever since she hit her teens. "We could always get one of Anya's demon friends…to, erm, reap some vengeance on Parker" Joyce joked lightly with a smile and Buffy smiled back. The smile sound became a soft laugh, but the laugh all too soon dissolve into sobs as Buffy began to cry. "Oh sweetie" Joyce sympathised as she put her arms around Buffy as her daughter slid over to be right beside her. Buffy, as she started to cry even more, lay down slowly so her head was in her Mom's lap. "I'm so sorry" Joyce apologized, though she knew it wasn't her or even her daughter that was at fault. There was nothing else to say though, nothing that would make it better so she just kept stroking Buffy's blond hair as she cried silently on her knee.


	4. Fear Itself

Rabidreject- Thank you for the review!

Zigpal- Thanken you, glad you liked how Joyce comforted Buffy (Beer bad is gonna see more Joyce-Parker dealings...) and actually Joyce does have a costume in this...but it's not related in anyway to The Sombrero (and yes I mean that with capitals hahaha)

g120-Thank you and well, you'll see about Joyce's outfit in this (plus Xander's reaction. hehe) and I'm happy you like the way it builds around canon and I am trying to focus more on Giles and Joyce now. This one really does that actually it's canon but they get their own little story...well you'll see.

Hope you guys like it-I was really worried about this one (perhaps even fearful about response haha) so erm reviews much appreciared)

* * *

Credit given where credit is due; the Abbey in Bedfordshire for their Halloween night special that helped inspire me for this story. Also for the Mrs Bradley Mysteries for muse-ation. Where else would have I have found my 20s imagery?

* * *

A/N: I know when you read this that the story may seem out of place or pointless (or you may get it right away and like it one can hope. Haha) but I will tell you it links back to the Joyce/Giles ship, just not yet, because I believe I am falling into an arc…oh yes! Shock! I'm developing a story arc between the two…ish. Enjoy

* * *

Buffy held the red riding cloak tightly in her arms as she looked over at her Mom as she thought back to Parker.

"I'm just starting to feel like there's a pattern here. Open your heart to somebody and he bails on you."

Joyce sighed.

"You're still thinking about Parker aren't you?" Buffy shrugged.

"I know he's conceited and a jerk and a moron and a chauvinist and all those other things, but how bad must I be for _him_ not to want me?" Joyce went to advise her but Buffy carried on, "Maybe it's just easier not to let anyone in"

"No it's not," Joyce told her honestly and Buffy looked up, "I used to think that. After your father and I divorced it well, it left more than a little gun shy and when we first came to Sunnydale," She sighed, "Well I didn't meet anyone new. No friends…nothing"

"Why not?"

"Fear" It was a simple answer, yet scarily true and Buffy found herself able to relate, "But that's not the way to go. I mean if I'd gone that way, I would have never met Rupert" She thought for a moment, "Actually I would never have _met_ him, met him at all if it hadn't been for the Band Candy. I'd always been afraid to make a move and who knows what would have happened if…"

"If you hadn't featured in Confessions of a Teenage Mom?" Buffy asked in an innocent tone but got the result she expected when her Mother turned slightly red.

"Yes, well," Moving on swiftly was the way, "what I'm trying to say is, you should never think like that Buffy and don't let Parker force you into thinking that way, ever. I wish I hadn't let your Father do it. I mean, don't get me wrong I'm still a little insecure but-"

"But you've got Giles" Buffy sounded confused, bless her.

"He's not 100 percent perfect you know" Joyce laughed, before sighing in reflection, "And I do get insecure sometimes. About stupid things when I think on it"

"Like what?" Buffy asked, genuinely interested. She had never seen or even considered there being this side to her Mom and Giles' relationship and given her recent situation or her general situation with men she found herself interested and wanting to know more.

"His past, where he comes from…I mean you know more about that than me" She laughed slightly, "And there's always that nagging feeling that one day he's just gonna wake up and go 'hang on- too complicated. Let's just end it here while we can'"

"Mom, Giles would never do that" Buffy assured her.

"I guess not…" She didn't sound convinced, "Doesn't stop me worrying about it though." She looked at her daughter pointedly. "But I don't let _that_ stop me taking a chance."

Buffy nodded, understanding her Mom's point but not feeling comfortable to answer or give her views on the Parker sitch, she decided on a diversion tactic.

"So are you and Giles doing anything for Halloween? Coz he seemed pretty pepped on it before"

"Oh god, he wasn't wearing that whole Mexican deal was he?" Joyce asked, eyes widened. She'd seen the outfit beofre when he had explained his sudden eagerness of Halloween. Joyce felt it was image she was never going to get out of her mind and it wasn't in a good way.

"Yep, the whole shebang," Buffy nodded. "But I made him take off the hat"

"Yeah I made him take it off as well" Actually she'd made him take the whole outfit off...and had found ways she would never tell Buffy to convince him to do so.

"So, anyway, like I said, are you two doing anything for Halloween?"

"As a matter of fact," Joyce admitted, knowing her daughter was trying to change the subject and for once, in understanding, letting her, "we are. There's a, uh, city party. At Jenkins Manor?" Buffy nodded to show she knew the place. It was the only manor in the entire town, rather large and it had apparently been around since the mid 1800s but it hadn't been lived in since the last Jenkins family member lived there in the 20s. It had basically become a museum for the house and the family's history since then. Buffy hadn't listened in History class in High School, but she _had_ listened to Willow talk about it afterwards, "Yeah, well, in an attempt to embrace Halloween the American way he's taking me." She looked down at her watch, "Actually, I should probably start getting ready."

* * *

"Themes" Joyce winced, "I just hope everyone else feels as awkward as I do" She couldn't believe the party was having a theme of, what else, but the 1920s. She had spent a while trying to come up with something appropriate the wear.

"It'll be fine" Giles assured her not sounding entirely confident himself as they were almost at the front door. He looked at her with a sly smile, "I still think your outfit is most appropriate"

Joyce just looked at him straight faced. He had carried on insisting for the past week that she wear the short Charleston dresses typical of 1920s America but she hadn't been eager to get into anything resembling a mini skirt since the events of last year. But if there was one thing she could say about him, it was that he was persistent. So she had found herself browsing through second hand stores looking for something appropriate and fortunately (or unfortunately depending on how she felt about the matter at the time) she found something almost perfect. It was spaghetti straps, a couple of inches above knee length, short different layers from the top to bottom in a crinkled, loose-moving material that was typically 20s with tiny pearl beading along the hem and along the top. She had been reluctant to buy it because it's color was a deep red, a red that could possibly described as scarlet and Joyce had feared it would be too much and had gone to put it back, but with nothing else to choose from and the shop assistant insisting it was perfect (well she would wouldn't she? She was trying to make a sale) she had eventually caved and bought the item. Slipping it on that earlier that night had been slightly disconcerting as it was cut slightly lower and shorter than she had assumed it would be. She had decided to slip on the t-bar shoes immediately after that particular glance in the mirror and not to look at her reflection again for fear she'd change her mind.

The look on Giles' face when he came to pick her up told her she had made the right choice in keeping the dress on. But while the outfit may have pleased him, it didn't stop her being self-conscious in front of others and she tugged down at the dress slightly as though that would magically increase its length

Giles, of course, was wearing a suit. Well, more of a casual tux if there was such a thing. She had joked at first that he could come dressed as he normally did. Or used to anyway, since the High School closed, well blew up, she'd seen a lot less of the tweed suits. Thank god. But this particular suit looked extremely good on him, so good in fact she kept sneaking glances at him and wondering whether they should have just stayed at her house instead of setting out to the dumb party. She knew Buffy would laugh if she told her, but she thought he looked very James Bond in his tux, especially with the British thing. Very James Bond

* * *

"Just in case" Buffy told him as she held up her basket of weapons. "Like the tux Xander"

"Bond. James Bond" Xander informed her, putting on what he believed to be a James Bond look, "Insurance, you know, in case we get turned into our costumes again. I'm going for cool, secret agent guy."

Buffy bit back a laugh.

"I hate to break it to you, but you'll probably end up cool head waiter guy"

Xander however looked undeterred as he shrugged with a smile.

"Hey as long as I'm cool and wield some kinda power"

* * *

"When they said a theme they weren't kidding," Joyce commented as she looked around the hall they and many others were gathered in. As everyone was dressed in 20s garb so the house was decorated in the same style. It could have easily have been a New Year '26 celebration and the sound of the song 'Shakin' The Blues Away' echoed loudly throughout the house and Joyce found herself instantly feeling in the mood and adored the atmosphere as her insecurities over the theme from before flooded away.

"I do have to admit, they, uh, they do seem to have gone, ah, all out? Haven't they?" Giles agreed. "What a swell party this is" He commented and Joyce laughed at the reference. However she stopped laughing as she saw a woman not too far away from her looking extremely low. She was stood alone also.

"Do you think we should go talk to her? She looks kinda lonely" Joyce asked, pointing over, but Giles frowned in confusion.

"Talk to who?"

"What? She's right there. She's…. actually walking toward us" The woman was directly heading her way, but in fact seemed to have no clue she was about have a collision. Joyce frowned as Giles looked around in confusion, "Wait, you don't see her?"

"See who?" Giles asked again just as the invisible girl in question walks directly through Joyce and she wavered on the spot as the sensation of having ice-cold water being poured over her shivered down her back.

"I'm beginning to realize why you may not have seen her," Joyce reasoned. God, was this slayer stuff _everywhere_? She was just glad Buffy was going to get one normal night. How could anything supernatural happen at a frat party?

* * *

Rachel, blindfolded, placed her hand in the bowl.

"This is just gross!" The frat boy holding her arm laughed.

"Eyeballs Rachel!" He laughed, "They're eyeballs!"

Knowing it wouldn't be true but wanting to prove it with her own eyes nonetheless she pulled off her blindfold and looked at what she was holding in her hand. Lay in her palm was a pile of all too real eyeballs.

She screamed.

* * *

Ghosts. Of course it was ghosts. It was _always_ ghosts. The question was why could only Joyce see her?

"And you say she was dressed in 1920s attire?" Giles asked and Joyce nodded, "Well perhaps she was a resident here at one time and," He went to elaborate further but a woman came into the room, interrupting him as she announced than their dinner was ready with seating arrangements (why, oh god, why?).

"I am sure you will be overwhelmed by the authenticity of the dinner," The woman continued, "And I am sure you will enjoy every minute. If you would follow me please"

Giles sighed as he supposed further investigation into the ghost wasn't vital at the moment and would probably last until after the dinner that was promised to be 'fabulous and authentic'. He was highly suspicious of the word 'authentic'. Ever the gentlemen he offered Joyce his arm and as she went to take it with her right arm she winced.

"What's the matter?" He asked in concern as she rubbed her right wrist.

"Nothing I don't think" She assured him, "Just got a bit of pain in my wrist…it's nothing" She smiled and took his arm- this time without wincing, but she couldn't hide from herself the fact that her wrist carried on hurting and felt incredibly stiff. She hoped she wasn't getting arthritis in it. She was too young for that and so refused to succumb to the possibility.

As they were led into dining room Giles and Joyce's expressions of pure marvel mirrored everyone else's expressions around them. Everyone had obviously been dreading the sit-down dinner. They had had pre-misconceptions of an Adams Family meal at a long dull table in silence, perhaps the quiet sound of crackling music tinkling throughout the room dully, while everyone pushed around the old, unappealing food around miserably on 'authentic' plates. Not quite how they all wanted to spend Halloween.

But something quite different from what they imagined lay in front of them.

There was a long table, as they expected, but it looked anything but dull as it was covered in a gleaming white table clothed that was lined in golden thread that glistened under the large glittering chandelier above them. Sparkling in a similar fashion was the crystal wine glasses placed perfectly in each table seat next to equally perfect looking plates and utensils. If Joyce didn't know any better she would say the room looked brighter than daytime Sunnydale.

"Wow" Joyce whispered.

"Isn't it?" The woman who had announced dinner to them all said from behind her and Joyce jumped. "Please take your seats!" The woman told everybody in the room loudly, "You places have been clearly labelled and they should be very simple to find"

And sure enough they were as Joyce headed to the first seat she saw with Giles and found her first name and her surname initial printed onto a gold folder car. She picked it up to look at it more carefully and wondered why on earth she had assumed the dinner would be old and dull; things were turning out to be quite glamorous.

* * *

Tarantula! Willow's mind went crazy as her panic caused her to shutdown so much she couldn't even react.

"Uh get it off!" She managed to say and Oz swiped it off in one smooth movement. "Is it gone? Okay that is _not_ sanitary"

"Okay" Buffy said, looking less than impressed from the recent frat scares, "Let's get to the party part of the party"

* * *

Soup. A classic starter. And not at all like the dusty mould she had originally imagined. It was one of those fancy leek mixtures, the ones in which the only ingredient you sure of was the leek, but it tasted great either way and Joyce was fully enjoying the meal she didn't have to cook herself. Problem was it was becoming harder and harder for to flick her wrist to hold the spoon in scooping up the soup. She sighed as she forced herself to switch hands and started to use her left hand. Giles frowned.

"What's the matter?"

"I don't know" She answered honestly, "It's just my right hand. It was hurting a bit before, but now I can barely move it without it causing, well, you know, pain…as in agony." Giles looked deeply concerned.

"That doesn't sound too good. Perhaps" He was about to suggest something when the woman who had announced dinner and he could only assume had a job as curator or tour guide at the museum appeared behind him; she'd been prowling round the tables for a while he had noticed. Waiting for a conversation to jump in on.

"Did you say it was a pain in your _right_ wrist?" The woman asked. Giles peered and saw she had a nametag. Laura.

"Yes" Joyce nodded and Laura raised her eyebrows in interest.

"Well you are sat in Miranda's seat," She reasoned, but Giles and Joyce just looked confused.

"Who's Miranda? And what has that to do with Joyce's wrist?"

"Miranda Jenkins was one of the last people to live here. She was shot by her own sister in 1926" Laura explained, clearing having committed the information to memory for intrigued and gullible tourists, "I believe that Miranda used to prefer to take dinner in the seat you are presently sat in."

"And yet, I don't see a connecting point" Joyce told her with a confused frown and Laura sighed with a smile as she explained further.

"Miranda developed arthritis in her right wrist at an abnormally early age. Teens I think it was. Heredity thing unfortunately. Huh- Maybe you're tuning into her spirit" Laura joked in what she clearly though to be a spooky voice before she walked off to see other guests.

Giles' eyes widened at Joyce and she immediately caught on to what he was thinking, well not exactly, but he had that 'something slayer-esque at work here' face. The two excused themselves and quickly got up and left the room, leaving behind their unfinished starter.

"Okay I'm not exactly as up on the Twilight Sunnydale as you or the others, but I do know that I am _not_ getting arthritis in my wrist by natural causes" Joyce said as soon as they were in the hall and out of earshot, "You seemed like you knew what it might be"

"Well" Giles took off his glasses as he thought through the possible reasons that had been running through his brain, "It has been known for cases where a person has empathy for a soul or spirit they can suffer from the same ailments as-"

"The ghost" Joyce interrupted, "The one you couldn't see. It's gotta be her right?" Giles' eyes widened as remembered and realized that it was a probable cause…if they could prove the woman she saw was Miranda.

"We'd need to do some research" Giles said and Joyce rolled her eyes.

"Is that your answer for everything? We're miles away from home and only _your_ car to get us there." Joyce told him, "We're not going to get there anytime soon. We need…I don't know, to use what we have on hand"

"Which is…?"

"A museum practically dedicated to her?" She filled in and Giles could have hit himself. With the amount of people there tonight and the way everything had been decorated and changed he had forgotten for the moment that normally the house was used as Jenkins Museum. Not an original name but it definitely guaranteed information at their fingertips. He took a quick scope of the room and his eyes fell on one of the many portraits lining the hall. Some were photographed, others painted but only one bore the title 'Miranda Jenkins'. He pointed.

"Was that the woman you saw?" He asked and Joyce headed toward it to get a closer look. It was the same woman, freakily so. She was even wearing the same dress. The painting looked so like the woman she saw she began to doubt she saw the ghost at all and perhaps just created the image from the subconscious that must have seen the painting.

"Yes, yes it is"

"Hmm" Giles thought for a moment, but was drawn out of his reverie when he heard Joyce's foot tapping impatiently, "Oh, ah, well, it has been known…in some cases for people who had ghosts literally walk _through_ them to develop a psychic connection to the persona."

"Meaning?"

"They experience the same things the spirit did when it was alive," Giles explained looking sombre, "Even sometimes to the point of their death"

"Wasn't Miranda shot?" Joyce practically gulped

The two looked around quickly to spot the door to an office. Office equalled documents. Documents equalled information. And information equalled step to problem solved.

Giles rushed forward to pick the lock on the door, but Joyce stopped following after him as her vision wavered.

"Whoa" Her vision dissolved completely as her present environment disappeared as she was suddenly stood in the same place, in the same building but the house itself looked completely different. More alive. A song, Cole Porter if she wasn't mistaken, was being sang loudly in a room just off to her right and there were dozens of people walking past her all dressed in 20s style clothes. Joyce looked around in panic and saw she couldn't see Giles or in fact anyone she knew.

Tell a lie. She saw Miranda stood on the stairs nearby just watching people casually, waving at the ones she knew. Suddenly a man marched over to her, clearly angry. Joyce vaguely recognized him from one of the other portraits. She believed he was Miranda's husband but at the moment in time he wasn't treating her like she was his wife. He seemed to view her in pure hate, a bug to be squashed. He said some words to her that Joyce couldn't hear, but she saw Miranda refuse to listen and turn away. She began to head back upstairs but her husband grabbed her arm, the arthritic one, harshly and dragged her down the stairs, through the crowds and out of Joyce's sight.

Her vision cleared and she was stood back in the museum Manor and Giles was stood beside her, his arm around her.

"Are you okay?" he asked, though she certainly didn't look it. He had just successfully unlocked the door when he turned around to see Joyce stood in the middle of the hall, frankly looking as high as a kite as she didn't seem to even be seeing the things around her as she stood silently looking blankly at the wall to his right, near the stairs. She blinked as she came to and he sighed a sigh of pure relief, but it was short lived as he saw the bruises suddenly forming on her right arm. She winced in pain.

"Erm…I'm not so sure" Joyce answered honestly, not taking her eyes off the bruises on her arm. Miranda's husband must have grabbed her pretty hard and not in a good way.

"What happened?" Giles asked, his eyes filled with concern.

"Erm," Joyce struggled to explain, "I was stood here and then...erm…I wasn't" Yeah, great explanation; everything should be oh so clear now.

"Pardon?" Exactly.

"I mean I was stood looking at people who aren't here now…people who were here when it _was_ the 1920s"

"Miranda's time" Giles confirmed and Joyce nodded, "Did you see Miranda?"

"Yeah, I saw how she got, erm, these nasty marks" She held up the bruised arm. She coughed a little. Great, that was all she needed now. A ghost's injuries _and_ a cough.

"Come on, I've found the records office. Should have all the documents we need" Giles told her, taking her into the room where several file cabinets and document filled drawers were stood, "We might be able to find something that could actually help us, because, ah, frankly, I don't fancy your dieing"

Joyce smiled. If she weren't so concerned about the whole dieing by a gun shot that she didn't know when was going to happen, she would have time to find that comment sweet.

"Makes a change," She said as Giles opened up the nearest filing cabinet and put a pile of documents down on the table in front of them.

"What change?" Giles asked, rifling through papers to find anything that could possibly be of use.

"Me having the life or death situation instead of Buffy"

* * *

Chaz rocked backwards on forwards as his own fear consumed him.

"It's…"

"What is it?" Buffy asked, getting impatient. They needed to find out what was going on fast and she didn't have time for nervous college boys.

"It's alive," He told her, "It's alive"

The plastic skeleton's plastic knife became steel and sharp and it's plastic bones became a gruesome reality as it tightened it's hold on the blade in his skeletal hand and focused it's one eye on Buffy.

* * *

Looking through more papers, Joyce tried to focus but the cough just wouldn't give up and the more she coughed the sorer her chest became. It was all she needed now- the flu. She knew she should have got the shot, but she'd told herself 'oh I'll be fine, I'll fight it'. She had had one bad experience with the flu jab in her late 20s and had never had one since, so she wasn't entirely to blame for the negligence. She noticed Giles was looking at her in concern every time she coughed. She _was_ coughing pretty loudly.

"I think I'm getting the flu" She assured him, "I'm fine. Just terribly bad timing" Giles nodded in acceptance but seemed unconvinced as he continued to look over the document he had in hand. He froze as he saw the dreadful information on the yellowed page.

"Or not" He told Joyce and she raised an eyebrow in confusion. He held up the paper in explanation, but Joyce couldn't look properly as she started coughing again. She reached into her bag for a tissue and started coughing into that rather than spread her flu-infested germs everywhere. He realized he'd have to read the information instead, "These are-are medical documents. It says that even before her death in, ah, 1926 by her sister, she was in fact already dieing from the, uh, mid-to-late stages of, of Tuberculosis"

"TB??!" Joyce exclaimed, "I can't have TB! I got _that_ shot!"

He pulled the tissue she had been coughing into from her hand gently and they both clearly saw the spots of blood sprinkled on the crumpled tissue.

"I believe inoculations are of no consequence in instances such as these. Unfortunately" Giles commented, knowing full well that this meant they had even less to time to research.

"Arthritis…TB…" Joyce grumbled as she looked through sheets as well, trying to cover another cough, "This woman was _seriously_ run down" she half joked.

* * *

"Look we found the stairs" Willow pointed out, as she started walking up them "Did Buffy find the stairs? No sir"

"You guys aren't thinking clearly," Oz said as she followed her up the stairs. Then he looked down at his hands and panicked. He was beginning to wolf out…but it wasn't even a full moon! "Willow something's happening" He began to warn her, not knowing how long it would be before he fully became the werewolf.

* * *

Joyce wasn't looking too good; in fact she was quite the opposite of good. The cough was getting worse and her energy becoming more easily depleted and she just looked like she wanted to lie down and have a sleep, but she downright refused to and insisted on helping with the research. Giles was getting agitated and knew he would soon be zipping straight past that and into worry, panic and then soon followed by pissed off. Every piece of information he found was either something they already knew or useless or all of the above. Her sister in the kitchen had shot her- an unfortunate cliché from a Clue game. Her sister had then shot herself. She was suffering from arthritis in the right wrist and had tuberculosis. Oldest of the sisters she was going to inherit the manor from her mother and father. All of it added up to a woman who had really bad luck and was passing it on to Joyce for seemingly no reason. Just because she had walked through her, the only other times this sort of thing happened was when the victim empathized with the ghost and since Joyce neither had problems with her sister had a large manor or suffered from arthritis (normally) that reason was moot.

"Whoa" Joyce suddenly gasped and Giles turned to her in worry.

"What?"

"It's uh, happening again, the, erm, split vision thingy" She explained as she started to waver in and out of 1926. This time she went with her instincts and before she completely dissolved into the 20s images she grabbed a hold of Giles' arm in an attempt to ground herself.

* * *

Xander looked in the mirror to find himself. Buffy couldn't see him, but he still existed, didn't he? Yes, he had a reflection.

"There I am" He assured himself, "I didn't go anywhere." He sighed in frustration; "Great now I just have to live with the fact that no one else can see me" He frowned when something caught his eye in the mirror. A decapitated head! Moving! Xander spun around to see if it was there in reality and not just in the mirror world. It was.

"I can see you," It told Xander and Xander ran. Fast.

* * *

_Could I go for that big boy there? With the dimples and wavy hair? Oh could I? I certainly could!_

New song now so a little time had passed since Joyce had been here. She looked down beside her and saw she was still holding Giles' arm…. which meant…he was actually here with her this time! Looking at him though she saw he was looking around, stunned.

"This is, ah, where you erm were before, hmm?" He asked, still not taking his eyes of everything around him.

"Yes" She saw she couldn't see Miranda or her husband in the crowd so they must be in the room to the right of them where they had been headed before. For some reason Joyce's instincts told her to follow them. She yanked Giles' arm, "Come on" She told him as she coughed loudly again and her head became slightly dizzy. She paused, shook it aside and carried on walking.

"Joyce I-" Giles began in worry but she interrupted him.

"No" She said, "Now come on" and the two headed into the little room. She pushed open the door slightly when they reached it but refrained from heading in when she heard voices and the couple instead listened in at the door.

"Miranda you don't understand" The husband was saying, his voice tense.

"What I _understand_ Jerry" Miranda retorted, "Is that all these years together meant nothing to you"

"Miranda, you can't" Jerry began but she interrupted him.

"No! An affair behind my back with _my sister_ of all people!"

Giles and Joyce looked at each other with raised eyebrows. They hadn't expected _that_ twist to the tale.

"Miranda, please-" Jerry sounded at the point of breakdown now.

"I want a divorce," Miranda said in a serious tone that implied her decision was not to be questioned.

"What?"

"I want a divorce," She repeated.

"You can't. My business, my reputation, my social standing…all of it. I'd be ruined. You can't," He argued, his voice becoming panicky and desperate.

"I can and will" She argued, "I have the money"

"I won't let you," He said straightforwardly.

"Oh my god" Miranda breathed, "Jerry what are you doing?"

"Jerry!" Another woman's voice exclaimed and Giles and Joyce pushed through the door in unison as they heard the panic in Miranda and the woman's voice.

They entered in room just in time to see the gun in Jerry's hand but not in time to stop the trigger from being pulled.

Miranda fell to the floor, lifeless almost instantly. It seemed surreally anti-climatic and undignified for her but tragic nonetheless. She was dead just because she'd wanted to divorce her cheating husband and there was nothing any of them could do about. Nevertheless Joyce ran to her side to see if there was even a chance she was still breathing. Her sister was trying to do the same, but Jerry had spotted her and was stopping her walking any further as he pointed the gun at her now, the sister having obviously seen too much. In mere seconds you could see the plan forming in his mind as he glanced down briefly at the dead body of his wife and then back to the frightened sister.

"Sorry" He told her and went to pull the trigger, but was stopped as Giles did a half-rugby tackle, half-reach for the gun. He brought Jerry's arm down to point the gun at the floor as the sister ran out of the room to get help. The gun went off loudly and a piece of the floor smashed away from the impact at the same time Giles groaned in pain and stumbled slightly. Jerry went to take advantage of that fact and knock him over but before he could Giles elbowed him in the gut with his left arm and knocked him out with his right fist. Jerry fell to the floor unconscious, the gun clattering to the floor, just as the others ran in.

Joyce got up and ran over to Giles, past the people. She went to hug him, but then noticed he was in pain,

"Oh my god your leg" She exclaimed, looking at the blood seeping from the wound, "You've been shot!"

"Just grazed" He assured her, but winced in pain nonetheless. It was at this point that Joyce realized she _wasn't_ in pain anymore. Her wrist didn't hurt and she was no longer coughing. Giles clearly was in pain though, no matter how brave he was pretending to be. She kissed him. Only lightly, on the cheek as he seemed to be too focused on the shooting pain through his leg to be able to concentrate on anything else, but the light kiss made him smile anyway.

"They saw it all" The sister was saying pointing over to the couple and Joyce nodded for a moment before realizing she was nodding at no one. They were back in their own time, but weirdly enough they were in the hall outside the room labelled 'kitchens' rather than in the records office. Did that mean as they'd walked in the 20s they'd been walking in the present time? Joyce hoped no one had seen, because it would have looked worryingly strange.

Giles was still shot though, or 'grazed' as he continued to claim.

"Come on, we need to get you to a hospital-wait, do you hear music?" Joyce asked as she suddenly noticed the loud jazz music pouring in from one of the rooms. Giles nodded.

"Yes, sounds like it's coming from there," he pointed to a nearby door and hobbled over, just as determined as Joyce to find out why such loud music was playing when only a short while ago it had been a quiet dinner in the dining hall. They pushed open the door.

* * *

"The house separated us. It wanted to scare us," Oz concluded as the group looked around at the now empty room.

"But we got away" Willow said positively, but Buffy shook her head.

"No, we were brought here. We all got so scared that we ended up here. Why?"

* * *

It was definitely a party and a lively one at that as the dance floor was filled with adults getting the Halloween groove on. And another thing the couple noticed? There was no 20s theme. Just a regular Halloween party. What was going on? They walked further into the room in puzzlement.

Suddenly the music faded out and someone from the live band spoke up from on the stage.

"And now I'd like to take a moment to give the stage to the wonderful woman behind all this and every fabulous party she's held here, Karla Jenkins"

Every started clapping as the woman stepped up on stage and Joyce and Giles clapped as well, but they wore puzzled frowns as a glamorous yet elderly woman stood up on stage in front of the mic.

"I'd just like to say thank you for coming. I love these parties as much as I hope you do. And-" Karla paused as she caught eye contact with Giles and Joyce. She frowned in puzzlement and stumbled over her words as she tried to regain focus, "And, erm, a-a-and, well, erm," she looked over at the couple once more before turning to fully focus on the rest of the crowd, "Happy Hallowe'en"

There was a brief clapping again before the music started resumed and everyone was dancing and talking. As Karla, a woman who Joyce and Giles could only assume was in fact Miranda's now very old sister; stepped down off the stage she found Giles and Joyce in the crowd again. She frowned at them for a while in confusion, trying to see if she was really seeing what she thought she was, before she smiled slightly at the two and gave a little wave which they returned before she walked off into the crowd.

Joyce then looked back at Giles and remembered his injury.

"Oh yeah, hospital, hospital" She repeated as she led him out of the room. As they walked down the hall out of the building she noticed everything was different. The paintings were no longer on the wall and none of the rooms looked unused. In fact, the house looked very lived in and it seemed…surprisingly…to not be a museum at all anymore.

* * *

"I can walk just fine now" Giles assured her. They'd been to the hospital and the leg had been seen to and bandaged and with out much reason for him to stay there any longer the couple had drove back to his place, but Joyce kept going to help him walk.

"Fine" She said, holding her hands up in surrender as they started walking the path to his flat, "But if you fall over, don't blame me and _expect_ an 'I told you so'"

"Duly noted" He agreed and noticed a group of people he knew all too well heading to his home from another direction. They looked complete wrecks with scratches all over and hair ruined.

"Buffy?" He checked and at the name both Buffy and Joyce looked up, Buffy at Giles and Joyce at Buffy.

"Oh my god Buffy what happened?" Joyce asked, running over when she saw the gash on her daughter's shoulder.

"What happened to _us_? What about _you_? Giles has a bandaged leg" Buffy commented being able to see the bandage through the rip that was in the trouser leg. Her eyes then flicked back to what her Mother was wearing; something that was showing far too much leg _that_ was for sure. "And what are _you_ wearing?"

Joyce tugged at the dress self-consciously like she had at the beginning of the night.

"What's wrong with it?" She asked in worry, thinking she had looked stupid all night, "Is it too much? I knew it was-"

"No it looks great" Xander assured her, "Really, really, really great"

"Thank you Xander" Joyce smiled, "But erm, two reallys would have been enough"

"One's a spare" Xander joked, trying to take his eye's off Buffy's Mom. Yes, she was Buffy's Mom. He must remember that. Always. Joyce equals Buffy's Mom. Also equals Giles' girlfriend. He really needed to stop staring. Really, really. He tried to find something to distract him.

"So back to the leg G. Why's it all bandaged?" Xander asked, resuming Buffy's point

"Unless it's part of the costume" Oz commented.

"If it is, you should get your money back." Willow advised him, "It's neither one thing or the other"

"Thank you so very much for on arrival to _my_ home you can have the instant ability to metaphorically tear my outfit apart" Giles told them, "And as a matter of fact I was shot"

"What kind of party did you take Joyce to?" Xander joked.

"One similar to yours I don't doubt" Giles said looking at the state they were all in.

"I'm beginning to think your whole 'Halloweens are always quiet' thing is a big fat lie," Buffy grumbled as the group headed over the front door.

"It does seem to always have some sort of event doesn't it in Sunnydale?" He agreed.

"It's what makes Sunnydale a Hellmouth" Joyce commented as she opened the door and walked in and jumped when she saw a giant bunny rabbit sat on the sofa that when it turned around turned out to be Anya.

"Anya!" Xander exclaimed and the giant bunny ran over and hugged him tightly.

"Xander! You're okay" She broke the hug to glare at Giles. "You were meant to be here!" She told him accusatory.

"I was?"

"Yes. To help" She insisted, "They were stuck in a scary house and I couldn't get in so I came to _you_ because you'd know about stupid things like that and then no! You weren't even here. What kind of person are you?"

"One that wasn't here?" He supplied and Anya sighed in frustration and she flopped down on his sofa and began eating the Halloween candy left on the table, "But please, don't let your anger at me stop you staying here and eating my food" he commented sarcastically and as Joyce laughed at his quiet joke he noticed she still hadn't let go of his arm. "I told you I was fine walking," he reminded her.

"I know," She told him and he frowned in puzzlement. "Do I need a reason to want to hold your arm?" she asked him with a smile tugging at her lips, "I just wanna make sure you're not going anywhere. You know…off getting shot by other people…" she turned the comment into a joke, but Buffy still rolled her eyes at the disgusting cuteness as her Mom and Giles kissed softly.

"Uh." She then remembered the candy Anya was munching on and ran forward to get her own dibs on chocolaty goodness. There was not one problem that could not be solved by chocolate.

* * *

Later that night Joyce thought about Miranda. And how her husband had betrayed her so badly- had an affair with her own sister. Weirdly enough Miranda hadn't blamed the sister as was evidenced by the fact that the moment Karla's name was cleared, the problem haunting had been solved. And Joyce didn't hold the sister at fault either. She thought back to what Giles had said about the psychic connection she and Miranda had temporarily had "It has been known for cases where a person has empathy for a soul or spirit they can suffer from the same ailments"

Empathy. Did she have empathy for Miranda? She could relate to her situation for sure. Not the getting shot part, but the husband's betrayal. When it had happened to her she hadn't blamed the women either, only Hank. Because Hank was the one who was married to her, was meant to love her, not the women. But why would she still have empathy for Miranda? She had moved on from that, from Hank. She was in a happy relationship now. Wasn't she?

She had admitted to Buffy she still had fears. But why? In her gut she felt she was always waiting for Giles to slip up, to betray her like Hank had. Hurt her. But he wouldn't do that. Would he?

Joyce found she couldn't be sure. She shook the feeling aside, pushed it away deep down inside her and decided to ignore it. She got up to search for the bar of chocolate that was half finished in her kitchen drawer.


	5. Beer Bad

Zigapal-ooh I know; i got a bit serious with the last chapter but I'm intending to link it back to a later episode...so the seriousness of it all was of the nessacery. hehe. Hope this ones a bit lighter for you. Thanks for the review

* * *

"So it was pretty nice to catch up after all these years" Joyce finished her story. She was over at Giles' (as her daughter would say 'again') and had had actually discovered what a great cook he could be when he took the option to cook and after the dinner they had just had she planned to make him take that option more often. She had actually started her tale about meeting an old friend from L.A in town earlier that day while they had been eating dessert but the story had trailed into them drinking wine in the living room and only now did it just finish. She hadn't meant to ramble on, but bless him he had let her.

"Actually, it's erm quite a coincidence actually" Giles commented after listening to the entire story, "I was on the phone to a friend from England today"

"Really?" Joyce asked with genuine interest. She liked when he talked about England; it gave her a little insight into what his life and home was like before he came to Sunnydale.

"Yes, Daniel, great chap…he, erm, he's part of the Watcher's Council in England" He explained, waiting for Joyce's reaction. When she didn't respond with outrage at him still talking to other Watchers after the way the council had been with Buffy, he carried on. "He's not too orthodox watcher-wise, great guy, he's actually staying here in Sunnydale for a few days. Business"

"What business?" Joyce automatically asked the obvious question.

"He wouldn't say" Giles admitted with a frown. Daniel wasn't orthodox but he was still as tight-lipped as the rest re council information. "So we're actually trying to figure out a time when we're both free so erm, we can ah, catch up and the like"

He continued to talk about Dan with encouraging nods from Joyce but soon she was lost in her own thoughts and was merely nodding as a reflex rather than taking in what he was saying.

This was just another reminder of his life in England; the one her _daughter_ was more clued up on. She felt like a broken record but she couldn't help it. He was keeping something from her, she could tell. Something about his life in England that he didn't want her to know. She'd tried to get Buffy to give some insight but she had merely informed her she was better off not knowing. What the hell kind of answer was that? She knew it was something to do with his old nickname Ripper, but even when they were teenagers he had refused to explain the reasoning behind the name. They all seemed to believe she was too fragile to find out the truth, that it'd scare her too much, but she didn't think that at all. In fact, she felt shameful to admit it, but that side of Giles really intrigued her and she felt desperate to know more. It sounded dark, mysterious…and it appealed to her and why didn't he trust her enough to tell her? This 'Daniel' probably knew all about it. She didn't even know about Daniel till now and yet he seemed to be a really close friend. More and more things she didn't know.  
She realized she was at her front door now and she was still ranting to herself. She sighed in exasperation at her attitude as she put the keys in the door. She was being ridiculous, bordering on obsessive. I mean did it really bother her _that_ much? It shouldn't do. She wasn't going to let it. Closing the door behind her she dropped the keys on the side table before heading into the living room.

She'd been to England once herself. When she had been at college. It had been a two-week trip part of her Art History major, to London. She'd gone with a group of five friends without a tutor or professor with them. After all they were at college and expected to study and do the research without someone over their shoulder. And she _had_ intended to do the field research but she and her friends had fell with in a working class crowd. They had been pretty hot and pretty wild and she and her friends had been easily won over by them. Spent majority of their time in England with them. They'd been doing everything; alcohol, sex, smoking, any drug they could get their hands on but they'd been sexily dangerous was Joyce's opinion at the time, plus a couple claimed to be in a band so that had increased the appeal so the six of them had stuck with the London lads. It was a period in her life that she intended to keep secret from Buffy to the grave.

The point was she suspected this 'bad past' Giles seemed to have was something similar to that, although she couldn't really see it…despite her glimpse of his teenagedom last year. However, the point still remained that she'd be fine with it. If only he'd trust her enough to tell her. She admitted to herself and herself alone that he didn't let her in on that part of his life. Anything related to England she was officially pushed away from…and she was starting to get slightly pissed off to be frank. Frustrated she headed into the kitchen knowing there were dishes waiting to be cleaned in the sink. Clattering the pans loudly as she set them down on the side she hoped would relieve some of her frustration.

* * *

"Yes, uh, that'd be great mate" Giles said over the phone, "See you in a bit then. Ta ra" He hung up 

"I thought we were gonna go out tonight"

Giles jumped when he heard the voice and turned around to see Joyce stood in the hall having just closed the door behind her. What was it with his door? He had locked it! He knew he had yet people seemed to walk in as freely as if…it were a public school library.

"Joyce"

"Was that, uh, Daniel? Was that uh Daniel on the phone?" She asked attempting to sound casual, but unfortunately sounding anything but.

"Erm, yes, yes it was actually," Giles admitted looking at her and reading her like a very open book.

"I thought we were going out" She repeated, looking down at her clothes, "I erm, got ready and everything, see?"

Giles did see as he took in what she was wearing with extreme appreciation. She'd dressed for a casual date and it looked great.

"I uh, do see and ah, we are going out," He told her and she frowned in confusion.

"But…" She trailed off, not finishing the sentence and merely gestured towards the phone he had just hung up.

"Ah yes" Giles agreed, "I was wondering if you wouldn't mind if we met up with Daniel together?"

She looked at him closely, trying to read his expression, but surely he couldn't have known how she had been feeling lately about his life in England? But this was so random, so sudden, so why else…?

"Are you sure?" She asked carefully heading towards him so they weren't having a conversation from opposite sides of the room. "I mean you haven't seen each other in a while. Perhaps it would be better if you went alone. You know catch up on old times"

He put both his hands around her waist and pulled her toward him, closing the remaining distance between them.

"Trust me it'll be much better if you come along" He assured her, "I mean you want to don't you?"

The look in his eye told Joyce she had been right initially. This was definitely because he knew how she'd been feeling lately…how he instinctively knew she didn't know…but she liked it and broke out in a big smile in response.

"Of course I wanna come," She told him before giving him a long kiss, smiling still as she did so.

* * *

The pub was called The Apple and the Ape. An odd out-of-place name for a town like Sunnydale. Inside was like any other pub though. Loud talking and laughter could be heard intermingled with the occasional cough. There was a haze of smoke in the air and you could smell alcohol; the parts being drunk and the parts that were old and stale on crinkled beer mats. It all contributed to that pub atmosphere that was universal, but no one could get quite as good as the English did. 

It was one of the main reasons Giles and Dan had decided to meet up in a pub; like re-visiting their old haunts when they weren't able to really. The moment he walked though the doors he was hit with a wave of nostalgia. There were a few differences though. The doors he walked through weren't the same as in England, there was no football being played on televisions or radios and there were no misplaced-yet-seemingly-at-home Mancunians sat drinking and talking together loudly at a corner table. Aside from that, it was pretty much home.

Joyce on the other hand looked like she felt quite out of place, but refused to show it. She had admitted on the way there that she'd been to pubs a few times but there weren't really the type of places she frequented. Bars she claimed she'd been to plenty and just as many clubs…but pubs? Well she said ever since she was a teenager she had viewed them as smoky places that harboured middle-aged men with beer bellies who had an extreme fondness for darts.

Giles scanned the room briefly and his eyes soon rested on Daniel, sat looking at home at a table at the far back, with what appeared to be a lager in his hand. He caught Giles' eye and gave a little nod of recognition. So there was the token Manc.

"There he is, come on" Giles encouraged Joyce before weaving his way though the thin yet at the same time packed crowd.

"Hiya mate" Dan greeted him "Y'alright?" before Giles could answer though, Daniel carried on, "Did I see you with a bird there?" he asked but yet again didn't give Giles time to answer, "Blonde'un. With the fairly big…" he gestured at his own chest and Giles' eyes widened at what Dan was getting at. He had forgotten his friend's bluntness over the years. He had been born in Manchester and couldn't have been much more of a stereotype of the region if he tried. He thought perhaps it was the reason he was less than orthodox with council matters "Here she comes now" Dan said nodding to just past Giles and he saw Joyce weaving through the crowd. He was sure she had been right behind him. But she seemed to be smiling tightly at certain men who were clearly making comments as she continued to push past them, tripping slightly over a bar stool at one point before she reached their table.

"That crowd's more complicated than a Macy's sale," She commented with a grin, clearly refusing to be put off by it as her eyes rested on Dan. "Hi"

"'Ello" he replied, putting down his pint as he showed some etiquette by holding out his hands to shake. She took it. "Dan Wright."

"Joyce Summers" She introduced herself and his eyebrows rose slightly in surprise at the second name, knowing full well the name of the reigning slayer.

"So you're with this'un then eh?" He asked, nodding in the direction of Giles. Joyce was fairly sure of what he asked her and she nodded in response, choosing not to say actual words as she took a seat on a stool opposite him.

"Erm, what would you like to drink Joyce?" Giles asked and she looked up at him as she contemplated the question.

"Just a white wine," She decided and Giles nodded before heading off to order them both drinks.

"He's got more British since I last saw 'im" He commented and it was Joyce's turn to raise her eyebrows.

"Because _you_ sound so American?" She asked him and he smiled back.

"Slick" he approved the sarcastic response, "I like sarcasm in a girl. Shows they've got more than looks about them" He winked.

He was a bit forward and blunt, but he seemed friendly and good-natured and Joyce began to instantly warm to him.

"So how long have you known, uh, Rupert?" She asked and he downed the rest of his pint before he answered. He had an empty glass next to it so this was his second. He got Giles' attention and gestured down at the empty glass pointing at the label 'Black Frost' and Giles clearly got the message as he added another drink to the order.

"Quite a while actually" He finally answered, "More years than I care to think about really. Don't like to be reminded of my age, me" He joked and Joyce found she felt she could listen to his accent for a while. It wasn't the clipped British accent Giles had adopted. This one was definitely regional and working class, slightly similar but not quite to the accent Giles had dropped to when they had…well, left their adult personas behind. It had a lazy roll to it, but with a harsh pronunciation of 'U' and occasionally missed H. She also couldn't help noticing sometimes words were missed completely. Words such as 'are'. If she ever tried to describe it to someone she believed it would make him sound uneducated when he was anything but and in reality the accent just made him friendly. Likeable.

Giles returned with the drinks- white wine for Joyce, Black Frost beer for Dan and another label beer for himself.

"Black Frost?" Giles questioned as he took a seat.

"Yeah, new thing 'ere in Sunnydale apparently." Dan explained taking a sip, "Stocked in from another pub in the area. Meant tuh be a big 'it" He downed another gulp, "I can taste why" he grinned and Joyce laughed and she could see Giles smile at the fact they were getting on.

As each enjoyed their drink for a moment the group fell into a comfortable silence before Daniel spoke up again.

"So how'd you two meet then?" He asked a seemingly simple question, but the expressions on the couple's faces told him it was going to be a complicated answer.

"It's a long story actually," Giles answered.

"Very long" Joyce agreed, drinking some of her wine.

"Well, skip the info about looking at each other across a crowded room and skip t'uh good bits" Dan encouraged and the two realized they weren't going to get out of it easily.

"A spell last year actually…" Giles struggled to explain, "It, ah…erm…"

"It turned us all into teenagers" Joyce explained quickly, "But erm, not physically" she blushed and her sip of wine became a gulp.

"Teenagers?" Dan asked, chuckling a chuckle that threatened to become a full-blown laugh, "Let me guess, some teenage lust and action was had?" He took another gulp of black frost and laughed some more, the thought of the mature, adult Rupert Giles in front of him reverting to his Ripper self that had quit the council was too much to keep a straight face.

"You could say that" Joyce agreed feeling more comfortable talking about it now. She found that Daniel could make talking about anything comfortable, "I was quite smitten," she admitted.

"So you fell for Ripper then?" Dan asked with a knowing nod as he finished his third beer. He gestured to a bar maid to bring another over. "You musta been quite the teen" he commented.

"So, erm you two met at the Watcher's Council?" Joyce asked, changing the subject.

"Aye, we did" Dan admitted, "This'un did the runaway deal though dinnhe? So pretty much heard nothing of 'im for years then bam!" The barmaid arrived with the drink and he handed her some cash 'keep the change' and he took another gulp, before setting it down on the table. He was starting to develop a garden of beer glasses around him. "Man, turns up all ready to get on with it. Quite the turnaround" he threw a suspicious glance Giles' way, "You never did say what caused the sudden change o'heart did ya?"

"And I never will" Giles assured him and Joyce regarded the two with interest. Clearly Dan didn't know the same things she herself didn't. So these secrets he was keeping from her even his lifetime friend didn't? Hmm…

* * *

The night so far had been an interesting one. Exchanging of stories had been interesting, particularly for Joyce as Dan retold tales of Giles' time in England; ones that embarrassed him and Joyce knew he would never have told her himself. An hour or so from their introductory conversation and Joyce had had only two more glasses of wine and Giles no more drinks as he was meant to be driving the two home later. Daniel however know had an array of seven empty glasses around him and he was halfway through his eighth and Joyce felt he was someone that beer didn't seem to like, or maybe it was just the new label – Black Frost. 

He was slouched down in his seat as though sitting up straight would be too much of an effort and the more he drank the more blunt he became, blunt bordering on inappropriate.

He started laughing to himself and Giles and Joyce looked at each other in confusion mixed with worry.

"They thought it was a rumor you know" he smirked some more.

"What was?" Giles asked.

"You and 'er" he nodded in Joyce's direction, "Council well, us on't lower rungs thought it was anyway. No doubt Travers knew everything." He drank some more and then resumed his monologue, "Slayer's Mother. Pfft. Couldnae believe it o'you. With shirts. Stuffed ones. You and slayer's Mum. Not that any of 'em who'd been in't field before hadn't ever thought about it though" He raised his eyebrows, "Can see why you'd be't first to act on it. Heh, heh" he chuckled and smirked some more and drank some more.

At the comment Joyce had looked at him in shock, mouth dropping open slightly while Giles seemed to be leaning more to emotion of Anger, but Dan seemed oblivious and carried on.

"American an'all" He said with disdain, "That part I _really_ don't get"

"Now hang on just a minute-" Giles began, outraged, but Daniel apparently had more to say and wasn't in the mood to be interrupted.

"But I guess American women are known for more than their independence eh?" He said, sliding over nearer to Joyce and she edged away toward Giles. As much as she had liked Daniel sober she now hated him drunk. "Tell you what" He spoke to Joyce directly, "You, me." He nodded in the direction of a back room and slapped his hand down on her knee. She knocked it away and stood up. Giles stood up beside her.

"What in hell's name do you think you're doing?" Giles asked, putting his arm around Joyce protectively. Normally she wasn't one for letting other people fight her battles, particularly men, but right now she was just enjoying the comforting feel of his arm around her, a welcome relief from Daniel's attention.

"Just having a laugh mate" He explained, but nearly fell of his stool mid-sentence.

"Maybe he's had too much to drink" Joyce tried to reason, attempting to slide the remaining beer away from him, but Dan grabbed it fiercely.

"No" He grunted, pulling it back toward him, "Mine"

"Monosyllabic or not, that was going too far" Giles argued. "And I've had enough"

Joyce wasn't sure what he was going to do, but he looked mad enough that anything was possible, so she put a hand on his arm to calm him down.

"Leave it for now" She advised him, " He's incapacitated now anyway. Maybe it's something worth waiting till he's sober. When he can have an adult _conversation_ again"

Giles looked reluctant as he looked back at the reasonable man turned primal drunk. He really didn't want to just leave it; Daniel had said too many things for him to just leave it. But the intense look in Joyce's eyes made him sigh in admittance as the two of them left the pub silently leaving the drunken Dan Wright alone at the table.

* * *

Arriving back at Giles', Giles was still seething over his 'friend's' attitude and he continued to rant as the couple walked down the path to his flat. He stopped talking however when he saw a familiar boy pacing on his front step. 

"Xander?"

Xander looked up and upon seeing Giles and Joyce looked immensely relieved.

"Oh thank god you're here," He said running over, "I've been here five minutes. Why don't you have a cell phone?"

"I have one" Joyce supplied.

"Well, I don't have the number and since psychic yellow pages wasn't open for business I had to resort to pacing till you came home" Xander replied.

"Why the pacing?" Joyce asked.

"It's Buffy."

"What? What about her?" Joyce asked in panic as the three walked into the apartment.

"There's this, erm, pub, I've been working at" Xander began but Giles interrupted.

"Aren't you underage?"

"Off topic much? Focus please" Xander sighed as he attempted to explain what happened, "And this guy I'm working for has been putting some sort of curse on the beer being served."

"Like band candy curse?" Joyce asked and Xander shrugged.

"Sorta. Except instead of teenagers you get cavemen"

"Cavemen?" Giles asked in surprise, "You mean they begin to actually think like Neanderthals?" Xander shook his head.

"No, not just think. Become. Everything. The whole deal. Physically changed and brought the fear of fire and love of violence along with"

"What has this got to do with Buffy?" Joyce asked and then her eyes widened in panic, "They haven't hurt her have they?"

"No" Xander admitted, looking suddenly sheepish, "It's just… I pretty much served her a lot of that beer and well…considering how the rest turned out…"

"You served her the beer?!" Xander backed up slightly when he heard the outrage in Joyce's voice. He wasn't in the mood to come under a mother's wrath.

"I didn't know it was all cursed" Xander excused himself but Joyce looked unimpressed.

"You still knew it was beer and that she was underage," Joyce argued and Xander winced.

"Technically"

"Well, where is Buffy now?" Giles asked.

"In her room probably." Xander answered, "But I don't think she'll be cavegirl because she didn't have anywhere near as much as the other guys"

* * *

Buffy was drawing cave pictures on her dorm room wall. One of them was clearly cave Buffy's depiction of a man. She had the look of a wild animal in her eyes as she banged on the wall, hitting the 2D man. 

Both Giles and Joyce looked at Xander accusingly and he held his hands up in surrender.

"Well she's not fully caved out" He reasoned.

"Parker bad" Buffy repeated and both Giles and Joyce looked unconvinced of Xander's argument.

"Oh honey" Joyce said sympathetically, heading over to her daughter automatically.

"It's quite fascinating really" Giles commented, the watcher in him shining through.

Joyce attempted to smooth down Buffy's matted cave hair and Buffy turned around slightly to look at her.

"Parker bad" She told her mother honestly. Her face was as mucky as her hair and her clothes seemed to have taken a primal look to them though by the label sticking out the top at least was from Gap.

"I know sweetie," Joyce agreed, having failed to smooth down the hair, deciding to tuck it behind Buffy's ears instead.

"Mother" Buffy grunted as though just recognizing Joyce. She tapped Joyce on the shoulder as though to back the statement up.

"Ow" Joyce winced slightly as Buffy had tapped her with entire slayer strength behind it. Suddenly Buffy embraced Joyce in a tight hug, her cave girl tendencies responding more to her Mom than normal.

"Aww sweet" Xander commented as he saw Buffy look like a little girl again. An 18 year old, caveslayer little girl, but a little girl nonetheless.

"No, not sweet, painful." Joyce argued sounding slightly depraved of oxygen, "Entire slayer strength behind this hug I think."

Xander and Giles rushed to help peel Buffy off. Buffy refused to move until Xander's arm was on her. She sniffed the arm and smiled. Letting go of her Mom she leant into Xander, sniffing his chest.

"Boy smells nice" Buffy said, smiling contentedly as she leaned up against him not unlike a happy cat.

"Hmm, I think she likes you" Joyce observed as she still winced slightly from the pain of the slay hug.

"She doesn't appear to be in any danger," Giles reasoned.

"But I think we need to find the fun boys pronto" Xander advised as he tried to get away from the sniffing Buffy. Joyce tried to get her away but she was too interested in Xander now, "Jack said the effects of the beer would wear off"

"Beer?" Buffy stopped sniffing as she now looked up at Xander in interest. "Buffy want beer"

"No you can't have beer," Giles told her and Buffy looked at him with an evil gleam in her eyes that he had to admit made him slightly, okay very, nervous.

"Ix nay on the eer bay" Joyce advised the two guys in the room, as her daughter seemed to be very sensitive to any mention of the beverage.

"Want beer," Buffy grunted.

Giles went to argue again but Xander stopped him.

"Giles don't make cave slayer unhappy"

Buffy faked a punch at Giles before hitting her chest powerfully.

"Buffy strong" She announced.

"Yes, Buffy strong" Giles agreed, but took a step backwards nonetheless.

"Buffy get beer"

"Do we even have a choice?" Joyce asked everyone as she watched Buffy warily.

Without warning Buffy suddenly tackled Giles, knocked Xander out of the way and ran out of the room, obviously in search of beer.

"Rupert!" Joyce exclaimed, running over to help him as Xander ran out in the corridor to go after Buffy.

"I'm okay" Giles assured her, "Where's, uh, where's Xander?"

"He ran after Buffy," She explained as she helped him up.

"We'd better go help. We need to find her before someone gets hurt"

* * *

"Oh thank god you're all okay," Joyce said as she and Giles ran over to where Buffy, Willow and Xander were sat, fire engines not too far behind them. Buffy hovered over Willow protectively as though concerned she may end up in another fire. 

"Did you guys have enough fun for one night?" Xander asked sounding like the teacher of an after-school special.

"Yes please" Willow answered honestly as Joyce and Giles took a seat beside her.

"Buffy tired"

"And there was a lesson in all this" Xander announced, ignoring Buffy's monosyllabic comment, "What have we learnt about beer?"

"Foamy" was all Buffy had to say.

"Don't sell it to my daughter?" Joyce asked and Xander cringed.

"I'm sorry, I can't say it anymore, but consider it checked. No more Black Frost for Buffy"

"Black Frost?" Giles asked in shock and both he and Joyce looked over at Xander anticipating the answer.

"Yeah, it was the name of the beer that was cursed or whatever"

The couple looked at each other in realization as they thought back to the drink Daniel had had eight glasses of.

"That would explain a lot" Giles commented.

"Explain what?" Willow asked.

"Oh nothing, it's not important" Joyce told her, not wanting to go into details.

"Well I think the boys in the car are contained for the time being" Xander said, looking over at the van, "This will give them time to ponder the geo-political ramifications of BEING MEAN TO ME!"

Buffy headed over to the van to get the Neanderthal's attention. Joyce initially went to stop her but thought better of it and just headed over with Willow to make sure Buffy didn't do any serious damage to the car.

"Buffy" All three turned around to see a male student stood there looking a little worse for wear.

"Parker" Willow said the name as though she really didn't feel in the mood to see him right now or if she ever would.

"Parker?" Joyce repeated the name and Parker stupidly nodded.

"Yeah that's me"

"You! You have got a hell of a lot of explaining to do," She told him loudly and it caught the attention of Xander and Giles who headed over.

"What do you mean?"

"Playing with a girl's feelings like that. And I know Buffy isn't the only one so-"

"Look lady, I told Willow, it was just meant to be fun. She got the wrong idea."

"What?" Joyce exclaimed in disbelief, "_She_ got the wrong idea? How dare you even suggest that this is in any way my daughter's fault!"

When she said 'daughter' Parker registered who he was talking to. He'd had confrontations with Mothers before and they tended to turn out worse than facing the Father.

"Well I thought we both felt the same way. Living for the moment. I'm sorry if she misunderstood-"

"Yeah, right." Willow chimed in, "You were feeding her lines from the off. He even tried it on with me just now" She informed Joyce and Parker glared at the red head for dropping him in it.

"How can you think it's 'fun' to do this to _any_ girl? Leading them on this way! Where the hell do you get off?" Joyce let out a mini scream of frustration, "When a girl is left _hanging_ with no phone call and is tossed aside like…like…like an, an _old shoe_- _she_ isn't having any 'fun'!"

"Okay note to self" Xander murmured as Joyce layed into Parker who was trying to back up and failing, "Never cross Joyce" He turned to Giles, "I'm actually kinda glad now that Buffy said no when I asked her out"

"You asked Buffy out?" Was all Giles asked.

"Four _years_ ago man" Xander rolled his eyes, "Where you been?"

"I've met types like you before" Joyce carried on and Parker was really trying to find a means of escape, "You're so full of it, it's just you deserve I don't know…to be knocked out or something!" Joyce exclaimed in exasperation just as Buffy, having witness the entire exchange, knocked him on the head with her club and he fell to the floor unconscious.

No one commented, but merely looked down at the crumpled form of Parker and walked off, taking Buffy with them.

* * *

"Me head still hurts," Daniel complained as he sat in Giles' living room, with Giles and Joyce sat together opposite him. 

"Must be all that extra caveman curse," Joyce reasoned.

"I just can't believe I acted like I did."

"Well, you weren't completely, ah, Neanderthal," Giles explained, "So you were at the stage of which a man has no clue how to behave in public or what is considered inappropriate. You were insulting Joyce to, well, I believe it was in an attempt to put me off her"

"The me-man, you-woman effect?" Dan simplified it and the couple nodded sympathetically. "I'm so sorry about…about how I acted" He apologized looking directly at Joyce as he said the words and she smiled.

"It's okay honestly. I know you weren't, well, let's just say you weren't yourself"

"I bet the band candy thing doesn't seem as funny now does it?" Giles asked and Dan smirked.

"No that's still pretty funny, that one" Daniel pointed out with a laugh. He glanced over at the clock and then down at his watch to double check the time, "I'd better be off. Plane tuh catch. Get meself home, get settled," He told them as the three of them stood up.

"It was nice meeting you" Joyce told him, shaking his hand, "Cave Beer Effects aside"

"Pleasure was all mine" He assured her, before turning to Giles, "Probs be a while before I see you again mate, but twas nice catching up, wannit?"

"Yes, as long as you were yourself…" Giles replied

"That's something you're not gonna let go of are ya?" Dan asked and when Giles shook his head firmly Joyce laughed at Dan's sigh of exasperation. As the two men shook hands Dan leaned forward slightly to speak directly to Giles. "You got lucky with that one there man, you make sure you're not gonna be letting her go"

Joyce blushed slightly having heard some of what was said.

"Not a chance" Giles assured him, but was looking Joyce's direction with a smile.

* * *

I know- slighlty cheesy ending but it popped in my head and I decided to go with it. Hehe. So it's reviewing time people! 


	6. Wild at Heart

Zigpal-thanks very much for the review and glad you liked how Joyce dealt with Parker. Hehe and let's _hope_ you like what I do next here...

* * *

Okay guys (yeah even you non-reviewers who've favorited it and put it on alerts-yah! I know who you are! Has you all listed and everything. mwa haha) this chapter's a bit odd and a bit short (hence the quick updateyness) but I just wanted to use the episode to show how the dynamics have changed and such...so please review and let meh know what ya think! ;-)

* * *

The second night of the full moon. Or rather this was the night _of_ the full moon and the night previous was well…the night before the full moon. Either way it meant there was an unknown werewolf to track down, one that evidently wasn't as tame as Oz. And this meant that Giles was out tracking it along with Buffy. And _this_ meant Joyce was as at home alone again at night. She'd gotten used to the not-being-alone and had practically forgotten the many, many nights she had spent sat on the sofa in front of the TV or in the kitchen or at the dining table paying bills while Buffy was out at all hours.

She thought back to before she knew Buffy was the slayer. Those times seemed so much simpler but at the same time more complicated. She'd spent so long confused by what was going on in her daughter's life. Parent-Teacher night was a memory that stuck out. She'd grounded Buffy a lot when she was in her Junior year and Joyce wondered how she had gone slaying without her own Mom knowing she was gone. Climbing out the window so many times…had she never thought to go upstairs to check why she was so quiet? No. Joyce sighed and took a moment to realize how much everything had changed since then. An empty house for one. Even though it wasn't large, it still seemed too big for just the one person.

The doorbell rang and puzzled, but also intrigued, Joyce went to answer it.

"Willow"

"Hi Mrs…I mean, erm, Joyce. Hi" Willow looked a wreck as though she wasn't sure why she was even there or if she was sure of anything right now. In short she looked in desperate need of a hug.

"Would you like to come in?" Joyce stepped aside and Willow walked into hall that look of uncertainty crossing her face again.

"I'm sorry to just come like this but erm I've got some stuff going on and…"

"Well, erm…why don't you sit down and tell me about it" Joyce offered gesturing towards the sofa in the living room and Willow nodded and took a seat and Joyce joined her.

"You see it's just…" Willow began, biting her lip slightly, "Coz everything's pretty much the wrong side of up and my turvy and my topsies are all confused and I really need to talk to someone about it and I would talk to Buffy but she's got an entirely different werewolf to deal with and so I thought now I can actually come talk to you. Not that you were unapproachable before but since you've been dating Giles you're pretty much on the inside of the loop so I won't sound like I'm talking crazy when I say stuff. So, anyway, what with Buffy pretty much busy I kinda needed a Buffy Sub and well, you're, well, you're like Buffy but you're a Mom and…" She trailed off for a tiny second as she considered how to explain it. She brightened as she realized how she could, "you're like the buffyish equivalent of Giles! That is you're like Giles, but a Mom…so you're an adult that knows about girly stuff in the sense that I can tell you things that would make Giles leave the room and wig or whatever, but you'll be okay with it coz you're a girl, uh mom, I mean, uh, woman"

Joyce frowned in understandable confusion.

"Somewhere in there I think you said you needed to tell me something"

Willow nodded.

"Yeah…. it's uh, it's well, it's Oz"

"What about him?"

"It's well…oh god, now I don't know whether I _can_ talk about this" Willow started to back out, "But now you know I have something to say you're gonna have to know even if you know I may not want you to know, you know?"

"No" Joyce answered honestly, but taking the sympathetic mother tone, "Willow just tell me what's the matter"

"Say…well…I wanted to get…. you know…_intimate_ with Oz and he was kinda not…keen…." Willow turned red, but Joyce remarkably seemed unaffected.

"He…didn't want to?"

Willow shook her head.

"It's a bad sign isn't it?"

"It's not any kind of sign" Joyce laughed slightly at Willow's worry, "Sometimes a guy, believe it or not, is genuinely too distracted or busy to be…'intimate'. Sometimes they are just a little too busy with work or something their dealing with at the time and then for once, suddenly it's all 'sorry love, can't. Got a world to save. New werewolf in town you know. Highly dangerous I believe' and then all their time is spent researching and they can't even put the book down for a half hour to just pay a little attention to the needs of someone who isn't them and-"

"Joyce" Willow interrupted the rant and she stopped talking. "I think you just promoted subtext to like text in the obvious text form way. And just so you know it took me to a very scary visual place." Willow smiled uncomfortably and Joyce apologized.

"Sorry, I think I went off topic a little there. Just all this…well anyway. What I mean is, what happened about Oz- it isn't a sign of anything. He just probably had other things on his mind"

"Like another girl?" Willow suggested and Joyce looked at her in questioning, "I've noticed him noticing another girl," Will explained.

"Ah" Joyce nodded knowingly. "But is s_he_ noticing him back?"

"I was say it was affirmative yes," Willow informed her and Joyce sighed as she considered what was the best advice to give.

"Talk to Oz" She finally advised.

"What?" Willow asked then shook her head emphatically, "Oh no, no, no. Talk to him and he knows it's bothering me"

"And you don't want that?" Joyce checked

"No. I want checking up on him from a distance." Willow smiled, "With perhaps surveys and tick boxes"

"That's not how relationships work Willow"

Willow sulked then looked at Joyce with a smile.

"But don't you wish they did?"

"Talk to him" Joyce encouraged, "Talk it through with him. It's the only way for you both to get past it. Trust me. But Oz isn't that type of guy, he just isn't. You have nothing to worry about"

"I know" Willow accepted but still looked upset and so Joyce took her in a motherly hug.

"So you'll talk to him?" Joyce asked.

"I promise on one condition" Willow said and pulled away from on the hug to look directly at Joyce.

"And what's that?"

"You promise never to go into detail or bring up the subject of Giles and his paying attention to erm, 'your needs'"

Joyce was suddenly very uncomfortable.

"Consider it done" She assured Willow.

* * *

Joyce had just been on her way out to work, coat on purse in hand when the doorbell rang. Peering quickly through the window she saw it was Willow her eyes bloodshot and her face tearstained. She pulled open the door immediately.

"Willow what's the matter?"

"He left" Willow started crying and Joyce led her into the living room, pausing a moment to close the front door. "He just decided to leave" Willow carried on as she sat down sobbing her heart out now. "No asking me, he just left"

"The girl…?" Joyce asked carefully and Willow shook her head, nodded and then shrugged.

"He was…he says he wasn't but I found them together and…she's a werewolf too you know?" If that was a shock for Joyce it was knocked aside by Willow's tense correction "Was I mean. Was a werewolf,"

"What do you mean 'was'?"

"Oz killed her while he was wolfed out and then…." Willow started crying too much to talk and Joyce held her and rocked her back and forth as she had for Buffy so many times, "he said he had to go" Willow continued, "Th-th-that the wolf was always I-in him and he needed to go awa-a-y."

"Shush. It'll be okay. I promise"

"No it's not" Willow argued through sobs, "How can it be okay? He's gone, really gone and I-I-I don't even know where"

Neither of them knew how long they sat there with Willow crying loudly and Joyce rocking her back and forth soothingly as though she were her own daughter and not her daughter's best friend.

* * *

Buffy was very aware of how much of a wreck Willow was right now, but when Willow said she wanted a walk around the campus Buffy had quickly complied.

"So, you okay?" Buffy asked casually as they walked. The question was more loaded than she meant it to sound.

"Yep" Was all Willow said in response.

"It's okay to just rant you know?" Buffy told her, "I am here to be your ranting soundboard. Buffy Summers Rant Board Extraordinaire"

Willow laughed a little but didn't look anywhere near ready to opening up.

"I'm okay for now, really" Willow said and she saw Buffy looked unconvinced. She wasn't okay, but she really wasn't ready to talk about it yet. She just wanted to take a little break on that little island called Denial. She decided to go for the diversion tactic-at least until she was ready to talk, "So how about you ad Riley?"

"Me and Riley?" Buffy knew Willow was changing topic but she guessed that for now it was for the best.

"I saw you two making googly eyes at each other"

"Were not!" Buffy protested, "It's just a friend thing. I mean he's been really nice and helpful to me"

"Really?" It was Willow's turn to look unconvinced.

"If I did like him I think it would one of those sudden out of the blue things"

"Out of the blue?"

"Yeah like Mom and Giles" Buffy explained.

"That wasn't out of the blue!" Willow automatically argued

"What? It totally was"

"Nuh-uh" Willow shook her head, "Come on there was that time when she was in the hospital, and you know when you thought Angel bit her? And Giles stayed by her bed for like _hours_ even though, you know, she was fine and in no more danger. Oh! And that time with the egg things that turned into all bezoar zombies. I totally clocked him look after her when they all came to and when he saw her like _properly_ saw her like without the whole demon zombie thing he looked like he'd been hit with a two by four for crying out loud"

"How come you even notice these things?" Buffy asked with a roll of the eyes wishing Willow would stop now as it was making her feel very ignorant but apparently her friend was on a roll.

"Oh and how your Mom said she babbles when she's nervous and up until they started dating she _always_ used to babble round Giles just as he used to do that nervous taking off his glasses thing. And then when you went to L.A…went in the sense you ran away…with perfectly good reasons I know, but Giles spent so much time checking if she was okay and talking to her and stopping by to give her updates and the Band Candy just got rid of their inhibitions basically. I mean immediately after that they couldn't keep their hands off each other-"

"Huh?" Buffy frowned.

"Oh, uh, I, uh, by immediately I mean a month or so after obviously…" Willow tried to cover her tracks, but Buffy already had her number.

"Oh my god. You knew from _then_?" Buffy exclaimed, "I mean I figured you all were in it a bit before me but that much of a bit? That stops being a bit and becomes a big chunk"

"Still proves my 'no-out-of-the-blue' point about Riley" Willow interrupted but Buffy still shook her head in defiance.

"No because…" Buffy struggled for an explanation/excuse, "Because _Xander_ also spent a lot of time doing the comfort talk thing to Mom that Summer. She told me herself"

The two looked at each other registering what Buffy said and both thinking the same thing. Rather than dwell on it the two didn't say another word to each other and walk off silently in opposite directions.


	7. Pangs

Zigpal- Thank you very much. Me like the claps. hehe. Glad you liked the mother/daughter thang as yeah, I agree with you, I always saw the others as seeing her as a Mom to them. (I chuckled over your 'maybe not Xander...'). And you will just have to wait and see about any off-canoning action...but I think I am one with your 'screw the non-reviewers' idea. Witness my jumping on board. ;-) So hope you like this chapter.

Rabidreject- hallor again and thank you for the review.

g120- Xander's after _everybody_ haha. After all didn't he say looking at linoleum made him wanna have sex? And thanks, happy you thought the Willow and Joyce scenes were erm...what's the word...developmental to the story. hehe. And oh I have plans for spell wackiness as I am already half way through Something Blue so watch this space. haha.

* * *

So I missed The Intiative. I know-sorry, just don't hunt me down. But I missed it for story related reasons and other non-story related reasons. Either way please forgive me and I hope this chapter makes up for it because it's 26 pages long and well...I think my keyboard is about to die from exhaustion as now the U button is playing up. Typical.

Also will be making up for the Intiative missage with a post-restless chapter. ;-)

* * *

"So if we had dinner at three then everyone can start getting here for around half one or two" Joyce mused aloud and Giles knew he should be paying attention.

It was near that time Americans called 'Thanksgiving'. Given that it was an American holiday he was still wondering why it was being held at _his _house and not say…the house of an American. Joyce was already in the full swing of things as she paced around his living room explaining the ins and outs. "Buffy is even going to help this year she says" Joyce carried on and Giles smiled a weak smile of encouragement, but too late, Joyce saw that it wasn't genuine. "Problem?" She asked him directly and he sighed.

"Its just…now don't take this wrong way _please_, but ah, I still don't understand why this Thanksgiving dinner has to be held…here."

"Oh that's simple" Joyce told him with a smile as she walked over to where he sat casually on the living room sofa, "That way the leftover mess is _here_ and so very far away from my own house."

"So this is all a clever scheme to stick me with clean-up duty?" He asked with a smile and she nodded.

"Exactly. What can I say? I always have a scheme"

"Don't you mean plan?" He questioned her choice of words and she shook her head.

"No, definitely scheme." She assured him, but saw he still seemed reluctant about the whole idea. "Oh come on" She encouraged him climbing up onto a seat next to him on the sofa, "Dating an American means you have to embrace our crazy American holidays and traditions" He went to protest but she kissed him hard on the lips before he could.

"Would this be one of those crazy traditions?" Giles asked after the kiss broke and she smiled.

"Why? Feeling more able to accept now are we?" She asked.

"Leaning towards that, yes," He agreed, grabbing her and pulling her onto his knee as they kissed more.

* * *

"But you were as against this holiday as I was before" Willow argued as she sat on her bed, arms folded and wearing resolve face. 

"I know" Buffy said in a guilty voice, "But then Mom started talking about her doing the whole giving thanks thing at Giles' with a big dinner and she…she…she kidnapped me onto the Thanksgiving Train!"

"It's a sham Buffy" Willow said, refusing to see the funny.

"But it's a sham with yams. It's a Yam Sham"

"Uh-uh" Willow shook her head, "you're not gonna jokey-rhyme your way out of this one"

"Come on it'll be great" Buffy pleaded, "You know how much you love Mom's cooking. Full roast…the whole nine yards. In fact it's probably like the _whole nine miles_."

"I thought you told your Mom you were gonna help with the cooking"

"And by help I meant hover in the kitchen with amusing banter" Buffy informed her friend before going back into plead mode, "Come on-it's like Professor Walsh was saying in Psych. The comfort factor. And we could all use a little comfort food"

"I guess…" Willow gave in reluctantly before looking at Buffy with a pointed stare, "But don't come crying to me when you see your Mom and Giles doing the Ma and Pa deal and you wig"

* * *

"So I called Buffy" Joyce was explaining to Giles as the two of them stood in his kitchen the TV on in the other room quietly and the noises on the news broadcast humming in the background, "She's going to do the shopping. I figured slayer strength might give her a bit of an edge" 

"An edge?" Giles asked as being male he had no clue why Buffy would need an Edge just to shop for Thanksgiving.

"You're kidding right?" Joyce asked him but his blank expression told her the answer, "You're not kidding. Women can get _very_ aggressive when food shopping for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's. I've earned myself a few bruises in scrabbles for the best turkey over the years" She admitted and he raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Sounds like the Supermarket's answer to Patrol" Giles half-joked but Joyce nodded in a serious manner.

"You have no-" She stopped talking as the newsreader's words on the TV reached her ears and both she and Giles headed into the living to watch what was on the TV

"_Professor Gerhardt of Anthropology at Sunnydale University was found dead in her office last night, her throat slit"_ The Newsreader informed them, _"With one ear missing it appears to be the act of…"_

"I'll call Buffy" Giles stated automatically after hearing the newscast and he headed over to the phone. As he dialled and waited for her daughter to pick up, Joyce carried on watching the broadcast with morbid fascination. It was only the sound of a knock at the front door that drew her attention away and while Giles continued to talk on the phone to Buffy, Joyce answered the front door.

The last person she expected to see on the other side was Angel.

Apparently Angel felt the same way about her.

"What are you doing here?" They both asked one another in unison just as Giles finished his phone call and he looked over in surprise after hearing the stereo exclamation.

"Angel" He stated simply as his eyes laid on the vampire, "What are you doing here?"

"Can I come in?" Angel asked in answer and Joyce frowned.

"I thought once you're invited you can always come in"

Angel shrugged

"I was being polite," He told her as Giles nodded and he stepped into the house.

"_Now_ what are you doing here?" Joyce asked the moment the front door was closed behind Angel and Giles was taken aback by how she was confronting him.

"I know." Angel said, "I remember what you said about staying away from Buffy but-"

"Wait, what?" Giles asked, confused, "What do you mean 'after you said'?"

"Erm…Joyce…told me it was better if I left Buffy…last year?" Angel became wary half way through the sentence that Giles had no clue what he was talking about.

"I didn't say that" Joyce argued and Angel immediately protested.

"Yes you did"

"No I didn't. The way you say it makes it seem as if I _forced_ you to leave town and I most certainly-"

"No just said if I knew what was best for Buffy I'd-"

"Uh-uh. I didn't tell you to _do_ anything except the right thing"

"Oh yeah, like you didn't imply" Angel scoffed childishly looking humorously out of character and Joyce reacted just as childishly.

"Oh my god. Why are we even _having_ this conversation?"

"Because _you-_"

"Excuse me!" Giles interrupted them loudly and both turned to look at him. "Is it too much to ask for…well, for two adults to, for one moment, act their age?"

The two looked very disgruntled at being told off.

"Well, she started it" Angel grumbled and Joyce opened her mouth in shock and was about to argue when Giles spoke over her.

"Now Angel, could you _please_ inform us at to why you are actually here?"

"It's Buffy"

"Buffy?" Joyce asked, all grudges against Angel suddenly dropped, "What is it?"

"A friend of mine…back in L.A had a vision of Buffy. She's in big trouble"

"What kind of trouble?" Giles asked and Angel frowned.

"Not sure. It wasn't too clear, but there's a big feeling it's bad. She needs help"

"Well, she's not here…" Joyce told him looking around the apartment as though to prove she was telling the truth, but Angel shook his head.

"No. She can't know I'm here. It would be too hard"

"For who?" Joyce asked carefully.

"Both of us" Angel told her honestly.

Suddenly they heard a noise outside and a sound of grumbling revealed to them all that it was Buffy heading up the drive and Joyce and Giles looked at each other in panic, knowing Buffy was about to walk in any second with Angel just stood in the living room. They turned to him to tell him to hide only to find…he'd already hid. The couple looked around in genuine confusion as they tried to figure out where he'd gone or even how he had gone so fast but before they had time to think about it too much Buffy walked in through the door carrying numerous shopping bags.

"Hi" She greeted them, "There's more outside" She told them and the two went to grab their share.

* * *

"So how was it at the store?" Joyce asked as she dropped the last of the bags onto the kitchen counter. She had been quite amazed that Buffy had turned up with the shopping so quickly, but had in fact found out that Buffy had already investigated the murder and was on the way home from the superstore when Giles had called her on her cell. 

"Awful. It was more like a riot than an _actual_ riot." Buffy said, "I've seen _vampires_ more reserved than that. I thought I was going to have to use slayer moves on this one woman who was completely hoarding the pumpkin pie filling"

"And you didn't because…?" Joyce asked and Buffy immediately explained.

"Oh because in her rush to get it she totally tripped over her own feet knocking like this really skinny woman so while she was insincerity girl with the apologizing I made with the getting of the filling."

"And at some point are you going to tell me about the murder?" Giles asked and Buffy was suddenly reminded that there were more important things to attend to.

"Oh right, well the knife was some sort of Indian artefact." Buffy explained, "Chumash I think. That's all we got"

"Chumash?" Giles checked and Buffy nodded,

"Yuh-huh"

"Those were the people indigenous to this area" Joyce said as she unpacked more bags and the other two looked at her, "Oh-we have a section dedicated to their art in the gallery. Quite primitive but simply amazing to look at if you take time to notice the detail" She explained.

"Hmm…. that's interesting" Buffy agreed, "And my slayer sense is telling me it's not a coincidence"

"It could be though," Giles pointed out, "Just a convenient weapon at the time."

Buffy shook her head.

"Nuh-uh. There were like a big pair of scissors just handily sitting on her desk. No- that knife was picked for a reason"

Joyce opened the fridge to put in the food that would spoil otherwise and saw the fridge was basically empty and she rolled her eyes. Men.

"God, what do you live on?" She asked him, "I swear, I'm going to have to be here 24/7 just to make sure you have enough food for a _normal_ human being"

The kitchen went deathly silent as all three realized what Joyce had accidentally implied and a feeling of uncomfortableness rippled through them as Joyce and Giles looked at each other awkwardly and Buffy busied herself with opening another bag. "So, erm what…erm…w-w-what were you saying about the knife?" Joyce broke the silence and Buffy immediately co-operated.

"Oh yeah. Uber clueage I say. Could blow the whole thing _wide_ open. Or at least partially ajar"

"Ah yes" Giles agreed, "Well, I'll erm, I'll certainly look into the Chumash collection and see if there's any ritual significance to the ear removal"

"Thanks that's great" Buffy told him, "Well that's pretty much it. I've just got a few more things to pick up from the store so…catch you guys later?"

She rushed off before they could even reply and the moment she walked out the door Angel came out of the back room.

"Where the hell did you go?" Joyce asked him, still confused about how he could have disappeared so quickly.

"Just there" was all he said, before pausing to think how to phrase the question he was about to ask, "So…you two _aren't_ living together?"

"What?"

"No"

Angel just nodded in acceptance.

"No it was just with the you being here" he said to Joyce, "and then…" he trailed off, "anyway, whatever killed this woman in the vision is probably the danger Doyle saw in the vision"

"Doyle?" Giles asked.

"The friend" Angel explained,

"Yes well, this Doyle has some ominous vision about Buffy and well it is all terribly vague" Giles commented and Joyce nodded in agreement. "I don't know whether you can be terribly sure of this"

"Believe me, I'm sure"

"I don't know" Joyce debated, "I mean there are lots of things, supernatural things, going on around here. This may be completely unrelated…I'm kinda inclined to agree with Rupert"

"You would" Angel reasoned, "You're dating him" He looked at the two for the moment in consideration, "You know maybe you two should only count as only one vote"

"You wouldn't say that if we were voting with you" Joyce pointed out and Angel shrugged in acceptance.

"Let's not fall into the pattern of before shall we?" Giles asked them, before looking directly at Angel, "if it is this that is threatening Buffy then we do need to deal with it quite urgently. I'm assuming it is something to do with the recently discovered mission-something is angry about being disturbed"

"Or maybe it was trapped there" Angel proposed, "and now it's released."

"And it took a liking to a Chumash knife." Joyce said, "I've been living in Sunnydale too long to see that as a coincidence"

"It's definitely related" Angel nodded in agreement, "Do you know Father Gabriel?" The couple shook their heads, "He knows the history of this place pretty well. His family dates back to mission times. He might be able to fill in some blanks"

"Ok I'll see about contacting him" Giles told him as he noticed Angel heading for the door, "Where are you going?"

"To watch her."

"Angel you can't do that" Joyce protested, "She'd want to see you so much and you won't let her, but you can see her freely?"

"Trust me- mine is not the good half of the deal"

"Well what if she _does_ see you?" Joyce asked.

"She won't" He assured her and left without another word, closing the door behind him.

"I'd forgotten how silent and brooding he was," Joyce said still looking at the now closed door, unaware that Giles was scrutinising her.

"You don't find that sort of thing attractive do you?" He asked and she turned around to him in shock.

"What? He's like half my age"

"_Technically_ he's five times yours" Giles pointed out.

"Still, no. Definite no." She looked at him carefully, "Wait, are you jealous?"

"No" Giles protested, "Just, well, just curious. I mean so many women say they fall for the dark, mysterious type and well…one can't help but wonder"

"Well…_one_ shouldn't," She told him, "Trust me. No worries here" She smiled and he smiled back.

"So 24/7?" He asked, referring to her slip-up before, "Think we could give that a practice run right now?" he asked and she grinned.

"Well…" She reasoned, "I do have spare clothes here and whoa!" She exclaimed interrupting herself as Giles suddenly picked up in his arms (one of those swooping gestures she'd grown very fond of) but just as he was carrying her off the words of the repeated broadcast floating out from the TV.

"Anthropology professor at Sunnydale University…" 

"Father Gabriel" Joyce murmured in Giles' ear, reminding him of the problem at hand and he sighed in defeat and Joyce was reluctantly placed back on the ground on her own two feet.

* * *

Cooking was a complicated matter. Especially when it was a Thanksgiving Dinner. Especially when it was in someone else's kitchen. And especially when the owner of said kitchen was being very distracting. 

"Do you want these potatoes to become little thin chips?" Joyce asked as Giles leaned over her again, breathing down her neck and as she giggled slightly the peeler suddenly developed the use of slicer as her hand slipped and a quarter of the potato fell separately onto the board.

"I don't know" Giles debated, "I think some sacrifices are worth making" He told her, pulling her hair back slightly so her neck was bare and that's when he saw the scar. Two puncture marks healed over but with deep scarring left behind and a thin scar line trailing between the two marks. A vampire bite. He remembered the night she'd gotten it. From Darla. It had been the first night he had met Joyce and he'd thought about her a long time after that meeting, trying his hardest to get her out of his head. And here was the permanent reminder for her. Also a permanent reminder that their lives would never be normal, never like other people, always dangerous. Never knowing whether you were going to make it from one day to the next.

"What's the matter?" Joyce asked, aware that he had stopped teasing her. He touched the scar slightly and her hand instantly snapped up to cover it. "Oh that." She seemed ashamed of it as though she was somehow to blame for the bite, which was ridiculous. He pulled her hand away and in a clichéd moment kissed the scar gently and Joyce practically dropped the items in her hand as the sensation it gave her rushed through her entire body.

She didn't know why, but she put it down to one of those seize-the-moment instances as she spun around so she was facing him, wrapped her arms around him and kissed him hard on the lips. As he returned the kiss and it deepened he felt her moan, even if it wasn't quite verbalized-their mouths otherwise occupied at the present time-and the sound rippled through his body. He pressed her against the kitchen side and he was dimly aware of a few of the potatoes rolling onto the floor as they both seeked closer contact of one another. He lifted her up slightly, never breaking the kiss and she sat up on the kitchen side all potatoes now no longer a problem as they all were brushed aside or rolled around on the floor.

"Okay break it up-kids entering" He vaguely heard Buffy's voice speaking and dimly in the back of his mind he realized he and Joyce should break apart. The two reluctantly did so. "So what part of Thanksgiving was that?" Buffy asked with a smirk, enjoying the fact it was making them uncomfortable.

Giles distracted himself by picking up the now useless potatoes and Joyce slid silently off the kitchen counter, pulling her skirt down straight.

"So I went to see that Father Gabriel" Buffy informed them

"And?" Giles asked, throwing the potatoes in the bin.

"Badness" Buffy said simply and with a sad look across her face explained what she had come across, "He was already dead when I got there and this Native American-said he was called Hus or something-was there just about to cut his throat. It was awful. We fought but he erm, he got away and then like turned into all these bats and like flew away like whoosh"

The couple were silent for a moment, knowing there was nothing appropriate that could be said for the Father's death.

"Well it's clear we're dealing with a spirit of some kind" Giles said, deciding to focus on the supernatural side of things, "It's very common for Indian spirits to change into animal form"

"I know" Buffy reasoned, "But why did I freeze though? Let him go? I mean it's plenty uncommon for me to freeze up in a fight"

"Oh I'm sure it wasn't your fault sweetie" Joyce assured her daughter while she carried on peeling vegetables, "and honey?" Joyce spoke to Giles directly, "We say Native American"

"What?" Giles frowned in confusion.

"We don't say Indian" Buffy explained to him, "It's offensive"

"Ah yes of course" Giles agreed, an edge of sarcasm to his voice, "Little slip-up- I'm always forgetting about these new PC terms. I'm still trying to refrain from referring to you lot as…." He caught Joyce looking at him with a raised eyebrow, one hand on her hip as though daring him to finish the sentence, "so erm…this ah, 'spirit warrior' has killed innocent people?"

"Mom?" Joyce looked up, "What are you gonna do with the potatoes?" Buffy hated solid potatoes. Ever since she was a child she could only eat them in mashed form. It was terrible, she knew, but old habits die-hard.

"I'll boil them and put them through the ricer Buffy don't worry" Joyce assured her, knowing exactly what she was getting at.

"Ah yes, of course, the ricer" Buffy agreed then frowned, "What's a ricer? Does Giles even _have_ one?"

She seemed to have said a question Joyce hadn't considered as her Mom frowned in questioning at Giles.

"You do have a ricer don't you?" She asked.

"No" He shook his head.

"Well, what are we going to do now?"

"Mash them with forks?" Giles suggested, but the two looked unconvinced, "I'm sure it will just be like the pilgrims did now did either of you happen to catch the little question about the deaths of innocent people?"

"Yes" Buffy told them, "And I do want to stop him…. just in a non-slaying capacity"

"Why?" Joyce asked, "He's killing innocent people. No matter the intent…I mean this kind of intent paves roads to hell."

Buffy sighed in frustration.

"I know. Argh, why can't evil just be evil? Since when did they come with a stupid guilt clause?"

There was a knock at the door and as though unsure of what to expect all three went to answer it and Willow came walking in, piles of books in her hands which she dropped on the table at the first opportunity.

"What are all these?" Joyce asked, flipping through a few of the books.

"Chumash research" Willow explained, "More specifically the Chumash war"

"War?" Giles asked, "But the Chumash were a peaceful tribe"

"Oh they were fluffy indigenous kittens," Willow agreed, "Till we came along.

"Why? What happened?" Buffy asked, flipping through the books herself and grimacing at the ghastly pictures and diagrams.

"How about imprisonment, forced labor, herded like animals into a mission full of bad European diseases?"

"Boy. Cultural partnerships really didn't stress any of that stuff" Buffy commented, closing one of the graphic books.

"Not even a diorama" Willow agreed, "And it gets better. The few Chumash who rebelled were hanged and when a group were accused of stealing cattle they were killed and-"

"Proof was brought back in the form of cutting off the victim's ear" Joyce read from the book, grimacing at the imagery it created. It proved that the link to the Chumash was no coincidence. Joyce put the book down slowly, figuring it wouldn't do her any good to read further on.

"So Hus wasn't kidding about the rightful vengeance routine" Buffy summarised.

"He's recreating all the wrongs done to his people" Giles elaborated, "And it's up to us to stop him"

"Nothing like Thanksgiving for conflict" Joyce commented and then suddenly reminded herself that a dinner was still cooking in the kitchen, "Damn-the turkey" And she ran off into the kitchen.

"Are you sure we shouldn't be helping him?" Willow checked.

"No I think perhaps we won't help the angry spirit with his rape and pillage and murder" Giles pointed out and Willow rolled her eyes.

"Well, no, not like that…but maybe we could…address some wrongs" She smiled, "Bring the atrocities to light"

"If the history books are full of them I'd say they already are"

"Give him his land back" Willow proposed just as Joyce, slightly suspicious that an argument was brewing, came back into the room.

"It's not exactly our land to give" Giles argued.

"I don't think you wanna help. I think you just wanna slay the demon and go la la la!"

"And I think your sympathy for his plight is blinding you to certain urgent facts" Giles retorted.

"No you're the one blinded being all ha-di-ha I'm British I don't give a bloody damn-"

"Willow, you need to see this in a neutral fashion otherwise-"

"But this isn't a neutral situation. Stop trying to-"

"I'm not trying anything. I'm merely saying-"

As the two argued Buffy and Joyce looked across at each other helplessly as the argument escalated.

"Guys" Joyce tried to interrupt but the two argued on obliviously, "guys…" The carried on arguing getting louder by the second so Joyce went for the obvious approach and stepped in between them, "okay guys!"

The two finally became silent. For a moment anyway.

"But I'd just like to say-" Willow began but Joyce shushed her with a raised hand.

"No." She interrupted her, "Rupert's right"

"Well of course _you'd_ say that-" Willow went to argue again but was shushed once more.

"No, the main priority is to stop this spirit hurting innocent people" Willow went to interrupt again but Joyce carried on talking, "_No matter_ the reason behind his actions"

"But his people deserve to have wrongs righted." Willow said when she was allowed to speak again, "if we just '_slay_' him then we are just as bad as the original colonists who murdered his people"

"Innocent people who aren't to blame in the slightest will die if we don't" Joyce reasoned calmly.

"Buffy…" Willow appealed to her friend, but Buffy shrugged uncomfortably.

"I think Mom's right will. He's killing people and that doesn't exactly put him in the good column…" Buffy looked very apologetic and guilty, "I'm sorry"

"Well that's fine" Willow said in an attempt to sound as though their decision didn't bother her, but failed miserably. "Go, go slay. I'll be trying to find a more peaceful path," She informed them, grabbing several books and sitting down to study them in a huff.

"Will…" Buffy tried to appeal to her but Willow wouldn't listen and Buffy sighed, "Well that went swimmingly"

There was another knock at the door and Giles opened it to see a very ill looking Xander propped up on Anya's shoulder.

"Xander. You look like death," He said as way of greeting.

"That's not very nice" Joyce reprimanded heading over and then her eyes landed on Xander, "But it unfortunately is so very true. What on earth is the matter?"

"You didn't bring rolls?" Buffy asked with a frown, seeing their empty arms as they walked into the living room. Willow moved off the sofa and into the chair and Anya lay Xander down on the settee.

"The doctor couldn't figure out what was up with me" Xander explained, "He said I had a lot of symptoms that didn't connect"

"I think they do connect" Buffy told him.

"To this Chumash spirit vengeance guy?"

Buffy turned to Willow.

"Didn't you say the Chumash got all diseased when they were holed up in the mission?" Willow didn't answer, but merely carried on reading, "Will"

Willow sighed and looked directly at her.

"I'm not going to help with the information giving if you're just gonna go all kill! Kill! On them." Willow told her, but when she looked at the pleading face of Xander she gave in, "But yes, yes they were. In here it lists the various-"

"Various?" Xander asked in instant worry, "As in…"

"Well I'm sure it's nothing to worry about" Joyce tried to calm him down.

"Ultimate jinx" Xander told her before looking at Willow, "Tell me Doc, am I gonna die?"

"Well they did suffer from Malaria, some smallpox…" Willow murmured her reply

"I was gonna say smallpox" Anya said as Joyce passed her a cool cloth to place on Xander's head. It seemed to have little effect.

"You know syphilis…" Willow continued to mumble

"Syphilis?!" Xander sat up straight in shock, but Joyce placed a firm hand on his shoulder and he lay back down, barely aware that he had been forced back down on the sofa as he lost himself in the panic of hearing the word syphilis and the suffering from it.

"Well, this is probably mystical and it'll go away as soon as…." Willow trailed off. She knew the others were intent on killing the Chumash warrior, but she was still determined to find an alternative.

"We still don't know what we're gonna do…." Willow said.

"I thought we had cleared that up" Joyce sounded confused and a little exasperated.

"No, you jumped in and was all 'oooh we're gonna do this'" Joyce looked suitably insulted by Willow's impression, "We…well, maybe I can find another way"

"Let's give him some land" Giles suggested sarcastically, "I'm sure that'll clear everything up"

"If you could just give me some time to read some more" Willow said, ignoring Giles' stab at her suggestions.

"Oh well then! I guess we'll just ask him to wait a while to kill again, till you've _read_ a bit more" Joyce said, just as sarcastically and Willow frowned.

"You two are a very sarcastic couple" She commented, "It's not healthy"

"Can we come back to me and my new syphilis?" Xander asked.

"No!" Giles, Joyce and Willow all answered in unison.

"What's to discuss?" Xander whined, "Spirit guy bad. Give Xander syphilis. Buffy slay bad spirit guy"

"But we've never faced this sort of spirit before" Giles pointed out, "We don't actually know what would kill it"

"Again with the killing" Willow exclaimed and Buffy sighed as the two fell into another argument

She took a moment to take in the scene around her. She didn't know whether it was a typical Thanksgiving or not. They had the new girlfriend (Anya) who was being introduced to the dysfunctional parents (her mom and Giles), the son whose girlfriend it is bringing problems every time he visits-in this case mystic syphilis (Xander), the younger sister who was something of a rebel against her parents beliefs and was often the root of many family arguments (Willow) and the middle child who watched everything and had the crazy monologue running through her head (that would be her). Hmm…despite the supernatural and abnormal things going on they were a pretty natural and normal family dynamic. Irony at its best Buffy believed.

"Hus won't stop" Giles was saying, "Hatred is a cycle. All he will do is kill"

A knock at the door stopped Willow from retorting. Everyone frowned in confusion.

"Aren't we all here?" Buffy asked herself as much as everybody else as she went to answer the door. A literally smoking Spike stood on the doorstep covered in a towel as he tried to protect himself from the rays of sunlight pouring down onto the ground and his back.

"Help me," He pleaded and Buffy responded by shoving him into the direct light. He got up as quick as he could and ran back into the shade of the doorway, "What part of help me don't you understand?"

"The part where I help you"

"Who's at the door?" Anya asked as Giles grabbed a stake off the side and joined Buffy at the door.

"I don't know" Joyce answered honestly as she peered at the front step, "I can't see past Buffy and Rupert" and she and Willow headed towards the door until the visitor came into view.

"Spike?" Joyce asked, not quite believing what she was seeing.

"Joyce!" He exclaimed, sounding genuinely happy to see her, "You're a nice girl, love. Tell these two to invite me in." He then frowned, "Wait, what are you doing here?" As Joyce walked to the door and stood next to Giles his question was silently answered and he laughed in disbelief. "No way- I don't believe it. You and the Watcher shacking up"

"We're not living together" Joyce and Giles were practically in sync, but not quite.

"Ah but you are together though" Spike nodded and then looked at Buffy with a grin, "Bet you weren't too pleased about that were ya? Bit of a shock I fancy"

"Yes, this is the way to get yourself invited in Spike" Buffy retorted and he groaned in frustration.

"Please. I'm burning out here" He turned to Joyce, "Make em let me in love. I've never done anything to hurt you have I?"

"You almost killed me daughter that one time-"

"Yeah but you hit me with an axe that time so that evened out" Spike reasoned and Giles looked at Joyce in surprise. He was sure he hadn't heard this story before and was just as sure that he would very much like to.

"And then last time I saw you, you had kidnapped Willow and Xander" Joyce continued.

"Ah but we had a nice chat dint we?" Spike appealed and sighed when it didn't work. His eyes then landed on Willow and he brightened again. "Willow tell em! Tell em I'm safe! Tell em what happened when I saw ya"

"You said you were gonna kill me then Buffy" Willow stated and Buffy poised her stake ready to make Spike the pile of ash on the doorstep.

"Yes, bad" Spike agreed with Willow, "But the other part. About how I can't bite anymore"

"It's true" Willow admitted with a sympathetic nod, "He had trouble performing"

"Yeah well it looks like they've done me for good…." When no one seemed to know what he was on about he elaborated, "You know…. Spike had a little trip to the vet and now he doesn't chase the other puppies anymore. I can't bite anymore. I can't even hit people"

"And this effects me how?" Buffy questioned him and Joyce frowned at her in disapproval.

"Buffy. He's harmless. You can't leave a harmless, defenceless person out to starve or god knows what"

"Mom," Buffy couldn't believe what she was hearing, "He's still a soulless, evil, vampire"

"And I'm not denying that" Spike agreed, "But I have the inside scoop on these solider blokes"

Both Buffy and Giles still seemed reluctant to give Spike the permanent invite.

"Look he's all alone and helpless," Joyce appealed for Spike, putting a hand on Giles' arm and looking up at him, "Plus he has information on the commandos…that's got to be some useful help hasn't it?" Giles looked down at her, trying to ignore the persuasive look she had on her face. And why did she have to be wearing a red top? He found it very hard to say no to her when she was wearing red. He sighed in defeat.

"Alright fine" he agreed and she smiled widely, "I invite you in Spike"

"Oh thank god," Spike said running in away from the sun that had been inching ever closer, but before he could get very far he was grabbed by Buffy and he saw Willow heading over, holding some rope and he sighed in frustration as he realized freedom to enter the house didn't mean freedom to walk about in it.

"Buffy is this really necessary?" Joyce asked looking over at Spike in concern as Buffy tied him tightly to the chair.

"Yeah, you're cutting off my circulation here" Spike complained and Buffy just tied the ropes tighter.

"You don't have circulation"

"Well it pinches"

"Yes, it's necessary Mom," Buffy said, ignoring Spike's complaints as she stood up

"But he's harmless now, what's he gonna do? Gnaw at the weetabix?"

"It's Spike" Buffy said straight-forwardly, "He'll find some way to be Evil and destructive"

"It's true; I will" Spike said with a smile and a nod, "But I have information and I feel I'm being mistreated."

Buffy just rolled her eyes and ignored him, turning her back to him for the full effect and Joyce shrugged at him apologetically.

"Mom" Buffy reprimanded, "Stop having sympathy feelings for Spike"

"I can't help it," Joyce owned up honestly, "It's just he looks all forlorn and helpless there and I get…well I get all these motherly feelings for him"

Buffy looked at Spike to see where the hell her Mom was getting this from and saw Spike smiling at her in a way that said 'ner-ner-ner-ner-ner'.

"Yeah," Buffy said sarcastically, "Looking at Spike makes me wanna go all red-cross" The glare she threw Spike's way told him the sarcastic comment had a double meaning.

* * *

An argument had started up again. The Dean had been identified as Hus' next target and while someone going to check he was safe was one priority the other was figuring out to stop the Hus from ever harming him or anyone else for that matter. However, Willow was still putting up a resistance to the slaying option. 

"No, I'm not gonna help you kill him," She argued, "I don't get why you even think that's an okay solution"

"The phrase 'only solution' I believe comes to mind" Giles replied smoothly.

Joyce had decided she'd had enough of the two of them and had eventually stopped trying to intervene and was instead focusing on trying to get both Anya and Buffy to help in the kitchen. Buffy seemed to know what she was doing, at least for the most part, but Anya being newly human had no clue and seemed to need direction every step of the way.

Buffy walked into the living room, still stirring a mixture that at the moment looked nothing like the desert it would become later on, just as Spike looked ready to kill himself.

"Oh someone put a stake in me"

"Well if you close your eyes and wish real hard" Buffy reminded him and went to put the bowl down and grab the discarded stake from before.

"It's just all this politically corrects bollocks is driving me _insane_!" He complained and Anya and Joyce joined everyone else in the living room, intrigued by his rant.

"Why is his hair that color?" Anya asked Joyce, puzzled. Anya seemed to have taken to aiming all questions at Buffy's Mom since the ex-demon seemed to view an ability to cook meant having a never-ending fountain of knowledge. No doubt she would discover the mistake of this assumption in due course.

"Caesar is not going round going 'I came I saw I feel really bad about it'" Spike was still ranting, "The history of the world isn't making friends. You had better weapons and you massacred them. End of story"

"But-" Willow went to argue some more, but Buffy stopped her.

"Willow I know you feel really bad about this and honestly I think it has _a lot_ to do with your Mother, but this isn't a wronged Native American we're dealing with it's a Vengeance spirit or whatever and that is a qualifier for slay gal"

Willow was silent as was everyone else.

"Erm…but how are you going to do that?" Joyce asked, warily as she sensed the tension in the room, "I mean you still don't how to kill it"

"I know" Buffy ran her fingers through her hair trying to relieve some of the extreme stress she was feeling, "Well, until we do, know that is, someone still needs to warn the dean"

"I'll go" Willow said, "I need the air"

"Will…." Buffy knew her friend for want of a better word was miffed.

"No it's fine" She assured her.

"Well, you can't go alone." Buffy told her, "I mean I want you coming back with like both ears firmly attached okay?"

"I'll go with her," Anya offered helpfully with an eager smile.

"Me too" Xander struggled to get up but Joyce walked across the room to make sure he lay back down.

"Oh no, you're way too ill to be going anywhere." She told him, "Anya and Willow will be fine"

"Oh yeah leave him here" Spike said, reaching over as if to smell Xander and he probably was, "This one looks about ready to kick the bucket and I think I can eat someone if they are already dead"

Both Xander and Joyce looked at Spike in disgust and then looked at each other.

"You should go," Joyce said helping him back up and he wobbled out the door with Willow and Anya.

"Pfft." Spike sniffed with disdain at letting Xander go, "When do I get fed?"

"Keep that up and you can pretty much set it for the 12th of never" Buffy snapped at him.

"You know what happens to vampires who don't get to feed?" Spike didn't wait for an answer, "Living skeletons. Like those famine pictures from those dusty countries only not half as funny"

"Do I have to gag you coz-"

Joyce rolled her eyes at Giles with a smile as Buffy and Spike continued to banter.

"Do you mind helping in the kitchen?" She asked, "Since Anya's gone and Buffy's well…busy"

"Well I definitely enjoyed helping in the kitchen before…." He murmured suggestively.

"Really?" She smiled, reaching over to get the bowl Anya had put down when an arrow blurred past and pinned the sleeve of her top to the wall, "Argh!" She said more with surprise than pain since it hadn't even grazed the skin and the couple looked up to see Hus stood above them.

"You!" Buffy exclaimed, "Listen, maybe I wasn't clear before about how terrible we all feel cause we're trying to help!"

"What's going on?" Spike asked in panic, unable to see anything.

"Little help here please," Joyce pleaded, finding she couldn't pull the arrow out and everyone at present seemed too distracted by Hus. Giles heard her though and turned round and suddenly remember the whole sleeve-attached-to-the-wall situation and pulled the arrow out with ease. He then saw Hus getting ready to aim more arrows, "Get down!" He warned everyone and everybody except Spike hit the floor.

"You're not gonna just leave me up here!" Spike complained in complete and utter panic as dozens of makeshift stakes flew past him. One pierced him in his lower chest, "Hey watch the heart!"

"Why is he here?" Buffy asked, "And not at the dean's?"

"I don't know," Giles, replied, "Perhaps he views you as a threat"

"Can we stop referring to him in the singular?" Joyce asked, "Because I may be going slightly crazy what with all the arrows flying past dangerously close to us and all, but I'm sure there's more than one of him"

"Oh great" Buffy complained, "Just what we need. A siege. Can't we just have dinner?"

Several arrows all at the same time suddenly came whizzing past the three but luckily missed them all and buried themselves in the sofa behind them. Not sure they would be as lucky next time Giles put his arm over and around Joyce protectively so if any arrows came too close he would take the brunt of them.

The phone could be heard ringing over the noise and Giles reached over to pick it up.

"Hello? Yes…w-w-we're well aware of that…. we're, we're under siege right now actually, thank you" He hung up.

"Who was that?" Buffy asked.

"A…erm, someone" Giles nearly slipped up, "We need a plan"

"Yes, let's talk it about it some more," Buffy responded sarcastically, "Where's your weapons chest?"

"Over there," He indicated the chest that lay at the other side of the room. Buffy let out a frustrated sigh before beginning to sidle over to the chest.

"Buffy!" Joyce let out a warning just in time as an arrow headed Buffy's way and she dove out of the way in time to see it embed itself in the floor. She hurried over to the chest quickly with a brief look of thanks in her Mom's direction.

As she took weapons and handed some to Giles another seven arrows were shot in their direction and one hit Joyce on the same arm that had previously pinned to the wall.

"Joyce!" Giles exclaimed at the same time as Buffy said "Mom!". The arrow hadn't gone in too deep so Giles gently pulled it out but the wound that bled quite badly proved it had been deep enough. He went to see to it but she shoved him away.

"No, I'm fine" She assured both of them, but feeling anything but, "Go do the fighting thing." Buffy nodded, knowing her slaying duties came first as she went to fight off the Hus, but Giles was still reluctant, "Go." She repeated, "I'm fine" He nodded and as soon as he got up Spike came crashing down on his chair beside her.

"Bloody hell!" He cursed and then noticed the blood on Joyce's arm, "Ooh, blood. Could I just…." He inched forward but she moved away out of his reach.

"Ew" She said to him before looking at how Buffy and Giles were doing. Buffy was doing okay, but she seemed to be having problems about how to defeat the Hus.

"Giles, these guys! They don't die!"

"Bit busy over here!" Giles replied and Joyce saw one of the Indian spirits had him by the neck. Ignoring the pain in her arm, she grabbed one of the vases off the side and smashed it over the demon's head. It didn't knock him out but it startled him enough for Giles to get the upper hand.

Buffy sliced the Hus with the Chumash knife and realized it left a cut.

"Your knife can kill you" She breathed just as the man in front of her turned into an enormous bear and she will filled with panic. Demons and vampires she could handle. Bears? Not so much.

"You made a bear!" Spike sounded petrified.

"I didn't mean to!" Buffy replied honestly.

"Undo it! Undo it!"

Suddenly items of food started being thrown at the bear.

"Hey gentle Ben!" Xander taunted, "That's for giving me syphilis!"

While the bear was distracted Buffy stabbed it in the bag and it alone with the rest of the Hus vengeance spirits disappeared including the one Giles had been fighting and he toppled over slightly at the sudden lack of resistance.

"Did we win?" Spike asked warily, aware that there was a calm silence.

"Yeah, I, erm think we did" Buffy replied, looking around, "Everyone okay?"

"Bandage now" Joyce whimpered as with nothing to distract her, the full pain of the injury hit her.

* * *

Dinner was laid out across the table and everything looked very normal considering the events of just over half an hour ago. The only thing out of place was Spike tied to a chair amongst the group. 

Joyce brought in the last bowl of food, stuffing, and placed it on the table to find everyone had already started eating. Fighting vengeance spirits apparently did wonders for your appetite. She went to sit down herself but found there were no chairs left and she realized that a disgruntled Spike presently took up the chair that would have been hers.

"This is another reason why I don't think we should tie up Spike," She said and Buffy looked around as though double-checking there were no sneaky chairs hiding away.

"Oh…" She said wondering how the problem could be resolved, "You have no seat…"

"Easily rectified," Giles said and grabbed Joyce round the waist, pulling her onto his knee.

"Not exactly practical though" She reasoned.

"Practicality I believe is highly over-rated," he said before kissing her. Buffy turned to Willow with a frown but Willow stopped her talking.

"No, no whining. That was the deal remember?" She reminded Buffy of why she had agreed to Thanksgiving in the first place.

"This turkey's great Mom"

"What?" Joyce looked at Buffy wondering what she was on about, "Oh thanks hon,"

"I can't believe the way I reacted," Willow complained, poking at her food dejectedly, "Two seconds of conflict with an indigenous person and I turn into General Custer"

"Violence does that," Giles told her, "Instinct takes over"

"That's the fun of it" Spike spoke up and Buffy told him to shut it.

"And I don't think you can feel guilty for fighting back Willow" Joyce comforted her, "I mean they were killing innocent people and weren't really the erm…'fluffy indigenous kittens' you called them before."

"Guess not…" Willow mumbled, sulking slightly.

"An entire siege" Spike complained, "You'd think on of you would bleed a little."

"I think I bled enough" Joyce said, looking down at the bandaged arm. It felt okay now, but her top was officially ripped and ruined.

"Yeah, but you didn't even let me have any" Spike whined.

"Certainly not" Giles told him, pulling Joyce closer to him on his knee protectively as though worried perhaps that Spike was going to break free of the ropes and attempt to get the blood Joyce had denied him before.

"It wasn't exactly the perfect Thanksgiving we planned" Buffy grumbled and Willow shrugged.

"Oh I don't know. Seemed kinda right to me. A bunch of anticipation, a big fight and now we're all sleepy. Plus- we all survived"

"Always an upside" Buffy agreed.

"And you know what?" Xander patted Anya on the shoulder suggestively, "I think my syphilis is clearing right up"

"And they say romance is dead" Buffy said, "Or maybe they just wish it" She added cynically.

"Oh I don't wish it" Joyce informed her and Buffy noticed that despite her mother's 'complaints' of impracticality before she now seemed quite happy sat on Giles' knee.

"Well our first Thanksgiving together" Willow concluded the entire day's events into one sentence, "It was just like old times"

"Yeah especially with Angel being here and everything" Xander added only realizing a second later what he had said and let slip out.

Everyone looked at Buffy in worry, waiting for her reaction.


	8. Something Blue

Rabidreject- Thank you for le review. And actually I think I will go onto season 5 as I just like writing this so much. I've become attached! haha! But as much as I do stay to canon I am going to create a loophole for Joyce. In fact I've already thought of one which will create an added evil to the season (as well as Glory) but hopefully it will turn out quite well and you'll like the idea...hehe.

Zigpal-thank you- and more claps! hehe. That was my intention- to ruin pangs for you. Unless I ruined it for you in like a bad way...in which case. sorry! And here is le next one. ;-)

* * *

"So you saw their faces but you can't describe them?" Buffy asked in exasperation.

"Well they were kinda human" Spike said facetiously, "two eyes kinda in the middle"

"Spike…." Buffy looked ready to hit.

"What about the lab? There was something about a lab," Joyce asked, intervening. She didn't initially think she needed to be here while Buffy asked Spike question about the commandos, but Giles had insisted that needed a form of chaperone at all times or he feared they would actually kill each other. She was now beginning to agree with him.

"It was underground" Spike explained, "I came out through an air vent. I don't know exactly where. I'm done now, put the telly on"

"Argh" Buffy groaned in frustration, "I don't know why we ever thought you'd be helpful"

"Well maybe if you didn't threaten him so much," Joyce suggested, "I mean it's not exactly a good way to coax information is it? If you just ask him nicely maybe…"

"Ask him nicely?" Buffy asked incredulously, "You can't be serious. It's Spike. You could give him all the blood he wished, allow him to watch _Passions_ as much as he wants _and_ let him sit comfortably on the living room sofa and he'd still refuse to co-operate."

"Yes, I know but perhaps if you weren't so harsh and uncooperative yourself perhaps Spike would feel inclined-"

Giles came in with a mug of blood with a straw for Spike.

"See- we feed him don't we?" Buffy interrupted her Mother, taking the mug off Giles and holding it out to Spike. She grimaced as he greedily drank up as much blood as he could at once.

"I don't know why you're all so dainty all of a sudden." Spike said, "You've done this for Angel. You must have"

Buffy pulled the mug away from him so he was left with an empty straw in his mouth and he tried to drink up the remaining red droplets in it.

"Hey! Give it!" he whined.

"Buffy, just give him the drink" Joyce tried to convince her but Buffy shook her head.

"No, we're not gonna get anything out of him. The kitchen is closed until we find out more about the commandos"

"It was very traumatic" Spike told them, "Now please can I have the blood back"

"Traumatic my-"

"Buffy, give him back the blood" Joyce tried to take some control of the conversation, "look, he's trying and he's not attacking anyone so…"

"Only because he's been chipped out and is chained to a bathtub!" Buffy pointed out and Spike used her point to his own advantage.

"Exactly. With all that you could at least give me a little more blood"

"You know maybe we've made it too comfortable for you" Buffy thought aloud and Spike looked at her in disbelief.

"You're kidding me. You think this is how I _want_ to spend my days?"

"Maybe we can make it nicer" Buffy proposed, pulling her hair aside so her neck was bare, "look at my poor neck. All bare and tender and exposed…all that blood just…pumping away…"

"Spike don't listen to her. Buffy stop that. You're not going to get anything out of him if you send him into a frenzy"

"Well, he's not helping anyway" Buffy argued the point and Giles rolled his eyes and left the room, leaving them to it. Joyce frowned as she watched him leave, looked back at Buffy taunting Spike, before getting up and following Giles out of the room.

"What's the matter?" She asked him once they were in the living room where Willow was reading on the sofa.

"Giles make her stop!" Spike called out helplessly from the bathroom.

"That's what's the bloody matter," Giles said, gesturing to the room with an annoyed wave of the hand, "It's all completely pointless with Buffy just-"

She grabbed his wrist and kissed him on the lips and he shut up. Forgetting his annoyance he got lost in the kiss dropping his hand to put it around her waist and draw her to him. She easily moved towards him and put her arms around his neck.

Willow found herself watching rather jealously. It made her miss Oz so much more. She remembered when it was Graduation Day and it was the first time he…calmed her down. And then at college where they had just woke up in each other's arms practically every morning. And how he always thought of her first and how many times he risked his own life to save hers. She missed it all so much.

The kiss finally broke and Giles looked quite flustered as he straightened his glasses.

"Ah, well like I was saying…" He frowned, "What _was_ I saying?"

"Maybe a truth spell would work on Spike" Willow suggested, reminding Giles slightly of what he had been ranting about before, "I'm not positive it would work on a vampire but we could give it a shot"

"A truth spell, of course," Giles said, "Why didn't I think of that?"

"Because you had your hands full with the undead English Patient?" Willow handed him the book she had been reading from so he could have a closer look.

"Yes, well it's worth a shot" Giles agreed, looking over the spell written on the page.

"Looks pretty simple" Willow surmised, "I'll stop by the magick shop tomorrow"

"Excellent."

"Alright, I'll be back in the morning with donuts and motherwort. Bye Buffy! I'll see you at home!" Willow headed towards the door as Buffy called back 'bye!'. Giles headed into the bathroom to give Buffy the truth spell update, but Joyce ran after Willow catching her just before she left.

"Willow, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine why?" Willow assured her.

"It's just you know with…well, what happened recently…I was just wondering how you were holding up" Joyce looked at her with concern, reading her expressions as though trying to find out how Willow was _really_ feeling.

"I'm good with the holding" Willow replied, "Just focusing on the Spike sitch and school and everything. Trying to get on with my life. It's hard, but I'm doing it."

"That's the best way I think," Joyce agreed, "Best not to dwell. Erm, good for you"

"Thanks, well, erm gotta go." Willow left before Joyce could say another word. She sighed, closed the front door reluctantly, knowing she was going to get no more out of the red head, and headed into the bathroom where the others were.

"What are you people blind?" Spike was saying when she walked in the room, "She's hanging on by a thread any ninny can see that"

"He's right." Joyce agreed, assuming correctly that he was talking about Willow, "She's falling apart inside. I just wish she'd talk to someone about it, but…"

"She's inner feelings girl?" Buffy supplied and Joyce nodded.

"Hello? Hungry vampire here?" Spike interrupted the moment carelessly

"Shut up" was all Buffy said in reply.

"It's going to be a long night" Giles commented with an exasperated sigh. He highly doubted that he was going to be able to risk staking Spike for such a long time.

"I could stay over if you like" Joyce suggested and Spike rolled his eyes in disgust.

"Great, I'm gonna be stuck in the same house as the love bunnies"

"Ew!" Buffy said to him, with just as much disgust.

"Sorry," Spike apologized without sincerity, "It's just listening to a watcher and his sexcapades wasn't exactly on my list of things to do before I'm three hundred."

Buffy didn't even dignify the statement with a response, but merely threw him a look of utter disgust and loathing and headed out of the room with his mug of blood.

"Hey!" Spike called after her, "I need that!"

* * *

Arms entangled, his tongue danced around hers and a surge of arousal rushed through her as the kiss deepened. She could totally lose herself in the man's movement s and caresses…and this was just a kiss. She was eager to get to the next stage as the kiss turned almost aggressive. The heat was definitely building and she felt incredibly uncomfortable in her shirt and knee-length skirt. 

"Oi! Keep it down up there! I don't wanna hear that!" A London accent broke the mood abruptly and the couple broke apart reluctantly, a look of frustration on both their faces. Spike was still locked downstairs in the bathroom and had tried interrupting them when they had been in the living room so for privacy and well, for other reasons, they had believed they would be out of Spike's annoying reach. Unfortunately that did not seem to be the case.

"Bloody vampire hearing" Giles complained.

"Let's just…. try to ignore him," Joyce slowly suggested the passive and positive approach and Giles smiled as the two began kissing again.

"Remember! No sex without safe sex!" Spike called up again.

The couple again pulled away from each other, looking very uncomfortable. In fact too uncomfortable knowing a vampire was listening in on them downstairs. The mood was officially ruined.

"So," Joyce said as she and Giles practically sat on opposite ends of the bed, "Willow's bringing the spell ingredients tomorrow morning huh?"

"Yep" Giles nodded.

* * *

She had done many things in her life, not all of them particularly normal or conservative, but of all the things she had done or even of all the things she planned to do in life when she was a teenager one thing that wasn't even on the list was microwaving pig's blood in a novelty mug. With a straw. For a vampire. Who was chained to a bathtub. In her boyfriend's bathroom. Yes, life didn't get much weirder than this. 

She had issues with giving Spike any blood at all this morning after the way he had been last night. It was only the group's desperate need for information about the MI:5 boys that reminded her that Spike couldn't be starved as a starved wasted away vampire was no use to any of them.

"Here's your well…you know" Joyce grimaced as she held out the mug for Spike.

"What? No good morning bright eyes?" Spike asked teasingly after taking a gulp of the blood through the straw.

"After the way you were last night? Be thankful you don't have a stick of wood for breakfast"

"You slice me with your words" Spike said sarcastically, but sounded very amused that he had been able to ruin the couple's night. After drinking some more, he thought for a moment. "You and the watcher have gotten pretty close" He stated but it sounded slightly a question, just as Giles walked into the room, "Staying over and all." Spike carried on, "Just don't see why you don't move in together. Be simpler"

Spike carried on drinking the rest of the blood, very aware of how awkward he had made the two of them feel.

Joyce and Giles both looked at each other immediately when Spike said what he did. The moment they made eye contact though they felt each other's looks burning into them and they turned away, looking down at the floor or the walls around them.

Giles couldn't deny that the thought had occurred to him before. More frequently in recent weeks, but he believed it would be way too, well, fast to suggest it to Joyce so soon. They had been dating for nearly a year, true, but many couples dated several years before making any form of commitment. But then again, they weren't really a normal couple were they? As morbid as it was to think about, neither of them knew whether they were going to survive next week's vampire and demon attacks. So should they just seize the moment? So early in the relationship? He really didn't know, but the way Joyce looked away from him immediately at the suggestion made him think he wasn't quite ready to ask.

She'd slipped up about the suggestion at Thanksgiving, she knew. With the 24/7 comment, but Spike's statement had been too clear and to the point and it made her slightly apprehensive. She didn't truly know whether she was ready for that kind of commitment. She hadn't lived with another man since her separation from Hank which had been followed quickly by a divorce and she had gotten used to her house being her own and with an only daughter her own home had adopted a certain girly touch that she wasn't quite sure she was ready to give up. The idea though she still found appealing and she had to accept that that was definitely something.

"So when's the interrogation beginning again?" Spike asked, drawing them both out of the reverie he had created.

"Actually we're trying something new today Spike" Giles informed him, "A truth spell in fact"

"A truth spell?!" Spike sounded violated, "I don't need no bleedin' truth spell"

"I strongly beg to differ" Giles argued.

"Where _is_ Willow?" Joyce asked, looking down at her watch, "Shouldn't she be here by now?"

"I'll, uh, I'll give her a call" Giles headed out of the room to the phone on the living room table. Dialling the number it rang for a while before he was met with just the answering machine. He frowned but left a message anyway.

"Oh, uh…Willow. It's Giles. Um, I thought you were bringing the ingredients for the spell today? I really-"

"Find the remote!" Spike's yelling at Joyce interrupted Giles for a moment, "Passions is starting in a minute and if I miss it…"

"You'll do what?" he heard Joyce challenge as she knew Spike could do absolutely nothing.

"Just find the bleeding remote!" Spike insisted.

"Keep on like that and I'll stop looking for the 'bleeding remote'!" Joyce put on a bad London accent for 'bleeding remote' as she imitated Spike's whining.

"Anyway like I was saying," Giles resumed his ansaphone message and hoped he wasn't going to run out of time, "Willow, I think we really ought to try the spell. Amongst other well…_things…_ we'd like the house to ourselves tonight"

* * *

Joyce hadn't realized how little time she had been spending at the Gallery recently, until she actually went there today. She had arrived and numerous colleagues had run over to her asking questions about layouts, upcoming shows and enquiring artists. She had asked why they hadn't called her with these questions instead of waiting till now to ask and they had told her that they had called, but all they had got was her answering machine. 

Had she really been that away from it all for so long? She knew since well, becoming what Xander had referred to as 'certified member of the Scooby gang or possibly sometimes called the Slayerettes depending on how professional we feel at the time', she had had less time for work as numerous supernatural occurrences kept interrupting her normal life. She just hadn't realized how much till today.

In fact, even now as dusk was falling, she was just walking down to Giles' front door to help out with what was not so fondly called Spike Duty.

She had barely reached the front step when a blonde and leather blur rushed past her, knocking her aside harshly into the wall. Rubbing her arm that had got the full brunt of the wall and was also unfortunately the one still not recovered from the previous week and sported a small bandage from where the arrow had pierced the skin, she realized that there was only one person the leather whirlwind could have been; Spike. Which meant he had evidently escaped. But how? She headed closer to the open door and saw a slightly confused looking Giles on the floor, clearly having been knocked over by an eager-to-escape Spike. She ran over, even though he didn't seem too hurt, considering he was already on the phone to Buffy.

"Yes, yes, like I said- he's escaped." He was saying into the receiver, "Yes, I think you should try to find him as soon as possible" He hung up.

"Are you okay?" Joyce asked as he stood up.

"Y-yes, it's just well- Spike escaped"

"I noticed," She told him looking over at the empty chair that no longer held the captive Spike. Joyce noticed Giles squinting quite a lot and he took of his glasses to rub his eyes as though they were painful, "What's the matter?"

"What?" He asked, putting his glasses back on.

"Your eyes. You keep squinting and don't…. well, exactly look comfortable" She told him honestly.

"Well, ah, it's just I, er, can't see very well" He explained, "It's like I have dust in my eye or something I suppose"

"Maybe you're just tired," Joyce suggested kindly, "I mean you been working pretty much non-stop since Spike's arrival. Maybe it's just catching up with you"

"Perhaps" Giles half-agreed, but didn't sound very convinced. "I have some, ah, eye drops in the bathroom. I suppose they couldn't hurt" He shrugged. At the moment he'd use pretty much anything to solve the problem, as his eyesight seemed to be getting worse by the minute.

At that moment however Buffy walked in dragging Spike along with her roughly. Giles decided he deal with them later as he went off to the bathroom. Joyce went to follow him but first frowned at Buffy and Spike in confusion- Spike had only escaped no more than five minutes ago.

"I thought it would have taken you a little longer" Joyce commented and Buffy shrugged at her in response before hitting Spike squarely on the jaw.

"Orgh!" He exclaimed in pain, holding his jaw where she had hit him. Spike attempted to hit back but only managed to mime throttling her before the chip kicked in and he screamed out in agony.

"You two- just, well, just stop it!" Joyce sounded as though she were telling off two naughty five-year-olds instead of two adults, one of which had been round since the 19th Century. She really wanted to go check on Giles, but she was afraid if she left Buffy and Spike alone for even a second there would be no Spike left which, as much as that outcome could be sometimes seen in a positive light, it wouldn't help them any. Buffy went to deliver another punch as Spike struggled against her but Spike easily prevented it making contact as he grabbed her wrist in his hand. She paused looking at him, breathing heavily and Joyce watched in morbid fascination as Spike drew Buffy close to him quickly and two exchanged a long lustful kiss.

"Erm…R-Rupert!" Joyce called, sounding suitably confused as she kept looking back at the 'couple' with a frown, "I, erm, I really think you should come in here"

She watched as Spike grabbed a chair and Buffy took a seat in it with a broad smile. When Spike got down on one knee, it was too much for Joyce.

"Rupert! Seriously!" She shouted and Giles came running in just in time to see Spike propose to Buffy.

"What the bloody hell?"

"I'm right there with ya" Joyce agreed. But if Spike's proposal was shocking it didn't shock as much as Buffy's answer.

"Oh Spike! Of course it's yes!"

The two kissed with just as much lust as before and Giles and Joyce turned away in disgust.

"Mom! Giles!" Buffy exclaimed excitedly, holding out her left hand showing the sparkling ring on her finger, "You'll never believe what's happened!"

Giles just stared in shock, while Joyce continued to look confused.

"Where did the ring come from?" She asked and neither Spike nor Buffy seemed to have an answer.

"Spell gone awry?" Joyce asked Giles and he nodded.

"I'll go call Willow"

* * *

"You're a demon magnet" 

"Hey, I was just trying to help" Xander pointed out, looking up at Willow and she got up and resumed pacing.

"Yeah, everyone's trying to help" Willow said sarcastically, "You, Buffy, Giles, even Joyce. Joyce keeps trying to be all motherly but she just doesn't get it"

"Hey, she's just looking out for you." Xander defended her, "We all are"

"She just wants to be everyone's Mom," Willow carried on in an annoyed tone, "Even Spike's." Willow pulled a face in mockery, "The perfect suburban housewife"

Turned away from Willow, Xander didn't see her eyes glow momentarily blue.

* * *

"Something's gone wrong," Giles informed Willow's answering machine, as he leant forward to see back into the living and saw to his horror Joyce helping eagerly with wedding plans and apparently conferring with Buffy over what was best to do with Spike's hair, "Horribly wrong" He hung up and headed back into the living room determined to figure out what was going on. 

"Rupert!" Joyce greeted him with a broad smile and a kiss on the cheek, "We were _just_ discussing wedding plans. What do you think of an outdoor wedding? Both Buffy and I think it'd be just darling, but well, Spike disagrees so you _are_ the swing vote" She smiled again.

"Well, an outdoors wedding is sure to incinerate Spike," Giles mused, "So I vote for that plan"

"How could you say such a thing?" Joyce asked him in apparently genuine shock, "Remember if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all. This is Buffy's wedding we're talking about"

Giles couldn't believe what he was hearing and automatically figured that Joyce had unfortunately fallen under the same spell as Spike and Buffy. He rolled his eyes, grabbed the scotch he had already poured for himself off the side and sat down on the sofa. Joyce followed him.

"Are you okay?" She asked him with concern, "You're not mad are you? I know it's sudden, but the important thing is Buffy is happy isn't it? Please don't be too upset"

Giles didn't reply but merely tried to block out the sounds of Buffy and Spike kissing.

"Please stop," He told them and Joyce frowned.

"You're really not happy about this are you? Well, the important thing is not to focus on it too much. Always focus on the positive. We don't want you getting stressed now, do we?"

"Giles, did you see my ring?" Buffy asked from her seat on Spike's knee, holding out her hand for Giles to get a closer look.

"Thankfully, not very well" He replied.

"Oh honey, is your vision still blurred?" Joyce asked him and he nodded distractedly while downing more scotch, "Maybe it's how you've been eating" She suggested, "You really do need more red meat in your diet"

"It's not my diet, it's a spell," He told her.

"Are you sure?" He nodded, "Well I guess it must be then"

Her automatic agreement unnerved him. Joyce had never been one to give up her own opinion so readily and to see her do so to take his opinion on board instead was a little freaky for want of a better word. He looked up and squinted as Buffy came over and joined them.

"I know you probably don't approve" She said the understatement of the year to him, "and my father's not that far away, but this day is about family…my real family and I want you to be the one to give me away"

"Oh Buffy that's so…" He was at a loss for words he felt so touched.

"See, you can see the good side" Joyce smiled encouragingly and that snapped him out of it.

"Oh for God's sake this is nonsense! Something is making you act this way! Don't you realize what you're doing?"

"You're absolutely positive about this being some sort of spell?" Joyce asked and he looked over at Spike and Buffy holding each other, smiling and kissing.

"I'm positive" He assured her and she nodded in acceptance.

"Okay"

That one word of acceptance got him more exasperated than Spike and Buffy being loved up. It was just Joyce seemed so easily led as though he could tell her anything and she'd accept it. Where was her fiery Aries attitude? He reached for his scotch again but found he couldn't see where it was. He couldn't see the table it was on. He couldn't see Joyce sat next to him. He reached out blindly and heard the glass smash on the floor.

"Rupert are you okay?" Joyce asked after jumping from the sound of the glass smashing and both Spike and Buffy came over looking concerned.

"I rather think not" He replied, "I seem to be…rather…well…blind. Completely in fact"

"Oh my god, you poor thing" Joyce sympathised as Spike headed over to the book shelf.

"We'll figure this out" Buffy assured him.

"But first we need to clean house" Joyce stated and got up and headed into the kitchen. She came back a few seconds later with a dustpan and brush and started to clear the smashed glass away.

"What you want is a general reversal spell" Giles heard Spike say over the sound of Joyce sweeping up glass, "Gonna need supplies"

"Are you _helping_ me?" Giles asked in utter confusion.

"Well it's almost like you're my father-in-law in't it?"

"See this is how it's gonna be" Buffy told Giles, "Spike will even help take care of you while I'm at the magick shop. From now on, we're a family"

"Aww, that is just _so_ sweet" Joyce said to Buffy who smiled back at her, before kissing Spike again.

"It's okay" Giles told himself; "I have more scotch" He went to get up but felt Joyce force him to sit down again.

"Don't you worry about that. I will get it for you" She assured him as she went to put the broken glass in the bin.

* * *

Buffy had returned from the magick shop apparently empty handed and Giles lay on the sofa with a towel lay over his eyes as Joyce sat beside him constantly making sure he was okay. That is, when she wasn't contributing to the wedding plans. 

"So the plan is to cure my incapacitating blindness…tomorrow?" Giles asked, interrupting Buffy's hums of the wedding march.

"They were all out of Tagas Root at the magick shop" Buffy informed him sounding terribly unconcerned, "They'll be some there tomorrow. I'm totally on top of it"

"Aren't they a perfect little us?" Buffy asked Spike, holding up the bride and groom figurines and Giles groaned in frustration.

"Would you like another drink?" He had found out that Joyce had taken to asking that question whenever Buffy or Spike said details about the wedding loud enough for him to hear across the room. She had seen him earlier on initially going to get a scotch whenever wedding talk had got too much and she had taken inspiration from that. In fact, now that he thought about it, this spell-induced attitude she had recently adopted was, at times, giving Joyce an Anya-esque edge to her that would have been amusing in any other situation but was in fact simply unnerving.

"No I'm fine," He told her.

"I don't like him" Spike complained about the figurine, "He's insipid. Clearly human"

"Ooh red paint" Buffy suggested, "Smear a little on the mouth…the blood of the innocent" Barely finishing the sentence the couple began to kiss again.

"That is _so_ sweet" Joyce smiled at the two.

"I'd like that scotch now" Giles told her and without complaint she stood up and got him another drink. He couldn't figure out the connection at all. He was blind, Spike and Buffy were (gag) getting married and Joyce seemed to be vying for the Perfect Housewife award. She handed him the drink carefully so he wouldn't spill it, as he couldn't actually see the glass himself.

"Where as the name 'Buffy' gives it that touch of elegance" He heard Spike say sarcastically.

"What's wrong with Buffy?" Buffy asked insulted.

"What a good question" Giles murmured, but Joyce didn't hear him, but she had started listening into Spike and Buffy's conversation soon-to-be argument

"Well it's a terrible name" Spike replied.

"Hey!" Both Joyce and Buffy exclaimed.

"My mother gave me that name"

"Oh yeah" Spike rolled his eyes, "your Mother, she's a genius"

"Rupert" Joyce whined, tapping him on the shoulder, "Say something, do something"

This was too odd. Since when couldn't Joyce fight her own battles? She'd hit Spike with an axe for crying out loud and now she couldn't verbally defend herself?

"Spike- shut up" was all Giles said as he saw it all, considering what was going on, as pretty much pointless.

Suddenly Anya and Xander burst through the front door.

"Board up the windows and barricade the doors!" Xander commanded as he and Anya put a bookshelf in front of the front door.

"What's going on?" Giles asked.

"Demons." Anya explained, "They just keep coming and coming"

"I think we lost them. We couldn't see…." Xander trailed off as his eyes landed on an untied Spike, "Spike! He's all untied!" He paused as he thought for a moment, "Which you've probably noticed"

_Ding!_ Xander frowned at the sound of an oven timer going off. 

"Ooh the muffins are done!" Joyce exclaimed heading off into the kitchen.

"Ooh yay! Muffins!" Xander smiled happily, feeling very much hungry for muffins. He then frowned, "Wait, why is she making muffins?"

"Maybe the demons attacking you have something to do with Giles being blind," Buffy suggested.

"Yes, I'm blind and-" he heard Joyce walk back in presumably with the muffins, "and Joyce seems to have become a resident of Stepford"

"Eat 'em while they're hot " Joyce encouraged, setting the plate of chocolate chip cupcakes on the table in front of them.

"Evidently" Xander agreed, but took a cupcake anyway as did Anya.

"Why are you holding hands?" Anya asked, regarding Spike and Buffy with suspicion.

"They have to hear it sooner or later," Spike said as he and Buffy looked at each other lovingly.

"Spike and I are getting married!" Buffy told Anya and Xander excitedly and all the two could do was stand there in silent shock.

"How? What? How?" Xander was completely baffled.

"Three excellent questions" Giles agreed.

As Anya and Xander looked away in pure disgust Joyce headed over to the two and tried to sort out Xander's hair which after non-stop running from demons attacking had become a little mussed.

"You know you have such a sweet face," Joyce told him, "You should try and tame your hair a little, show it off"

"I've tried to tell him that" Anya said, "But he won't listen. He just lets it flop anywhere"

Xander knocked Joyce's hands away.

"Can we stop discussing my hair and talk more about," He gestured at Spike and Buffy, "_that?_"

"Oh isn't it just darling?" Joyce asked with a smile, "They are just so in love."

"Yeah, we've been seeing it coming for years" Xander said sarcastically throwing a confused look Giles' way before he remembered he was blind and so couldn't see. "Wait…. married…" Xander thought aloud, "I know something…what is it? It's so familiar…work brain! Work! Oh…oh! Willow!"

"What about Willow?" Joyce asked, "Where is Willow?"

"I don't know where she is but I know this has something to do with her griefy-poor-me mood swings. _So _tired of it"

"Now that's not very nice," Joyce reprimanded, "She's going through a very hard time and I feel we should all be supportive"

"She doesn't like negative comments right now" Giles explained, sensing Xander's confused frown as he couldn't see it.

"Don't you agree, Rupert?" She asked.

"She also seems to think I have the final word on everything," He added.

"Seriously?" Xander asking in disbelief and Giles nodded, "So like you could say Willow is horrible and she'd just accept it?" Another nod, "Wow, she really has gone Stepford"

"Xander, what were you saying about Will?" Buffy asked, pulling herself away from Spike for a moment.

"She told me I was a demon magnet, that Spike and Buffy should get married…and oh! She said Joyce was a typical suburban housewife"

"And she said I…didn't see anything" Giles added, realizing what had been going on.

"She did a spell," Buffy concluded.

"Yes," Giles agreed, "To have her will done. Whatever she says is coming true"

"And you were all effected" Buffy said, "I must have escaped because of some slayer immunity. Maybe Mom being related to me is why she escaped it too"

"What?" Anya, Giles and Xander all asked.

"Well, she's just Mom…nothing's changed" Buffy explained and the three realized that through Buffy's rose colored glasses her Mom was merely being supportive. It was Xander who decided to break the rose bubbled.

"She has been affected Buff," He said and both Joyce and Buffy frowned at him, not believing it and he sighed, "She's a batch of cookies away from layers of hairspray, swing dress, nylons and introducing herself as Lucy"

"Cookies- what a great idea" Was all Joyce said before she headed off into the kitchen. Xander waved his hand in her direction while looking at Buffy as if to go 'see?'.

* * *

Everyone had gone to find Willow to make her reverse the wacky mess she'd made. Giles had been forced to stay at home by Joyce, but it wasn't like, being completely and utterly blind, he would have been any help anyway. So he had sat here while Joyce willingly listened to him rant about the situation and Spike, she got him drinks and baked cookies. He wondered how long it was going to take the others to sort everything out. He missed the old Joyce. 

He heard her heading back into the room when suddenly he could also see her heading back into the room, a plate of homemade cookies in her hand. She looked down at the oatmeal cookies with a frown and seemed to get even more confused when she looked down and saw the apron she was wearing. She looked around and saw the muffins she had made and the several sandwiches that had been conveniently cut into little triangles. At a loss of what else to do she put the plate down on the side and headed over to Giles.

"You can see again?" She asked, figuring it out.

"Yes, finally," He told her, reaching for his glasses off the side and putting them on. He fixed her with a pointed stare, "Have you ceased to be a Stepford wife?" He asked and she laughed in a non-amused way as she took off the apron.

"Haha. Very funny," She told him sarcastically, "bring it up again and I'll make you pay," she told him and frowned when he just smiled in response, "I'm serious" She insisted.

"I know," He agreed, "Just good to have you back."

"Miss me?" She asked.

"Well, it was a little unnerving having you agree with me constantly," He pointed out.

"Hmm…" she sounded unconvinced, "I bet you loved every minute"

"Actually, no" He answered honestly, "I love you as you are; the modern, non-housewife, argumentative type. Every bit of you as you are"

"Aww…that is so sweet," she told him, echoing her spellbound self from before on purpose, "I love you too," The two kissed just as everyone walked back in dragging a reluctant Spike along with.

"Hi everybody," Joyce greeted them, "Are we all cured?"

"Sorry" Willow replied with a weak smile.

* * *

"You know we already have cookies and numerous other foods of choice," Anya said as Willow came in with more chocolate chip cookies. 

"Yes, but Joyce was a little housewife so her cookies are oatmeal. Mine are better." She held out the plate to Anya, "Chocolate chip?"

"How long are you gonna keep making them?" Anya asked, taking three off the plate.

"Oh until I don't feel so horribly guilty," Willow replied, "I figure about a million chips from now. Also, I have to detail Giles' car"

She took the plate away from a greedy Anya and headed over to where Giles, Joyce and Xander were sitting. Xander was apparently testing Giles' eyesight as he held up a clock.

"Time"

"Ah-ha. Five past two. Thursday" Giles replied.

"Look cookies. A very not-evil thing I did." Willow said, holding out the plate to Giles and Joyce, "Look, oatmeal?"

Giles scowled as he took a cookie.

"Yes, very funny they're chocolate chip, I can see them. I still need my glasses though" He complained, "You could at least be more specific and give me 20/20."

"Oh but I like your glasses," Joyce told him, "sexily intellectual. Plus, it give me one more thing to take off" she added before she leaned over and they kissed.

"Okay, eww, gross and oh no- that scary visual hell again" Buffy complained, jumping up and heading to the other side of the room.

"Well at least you know how I felt before about you and Spike" Giles told her, "Only that I believe was ten times worse"

"And you didn't even hear her request for Wind Beneath My Wings for the first dance" Spike added and everyone looked at Buffy in astonishment and horror at her non-taste.


	9. Hush

g120- Yeah, twasn't my joke haha. Though I have to say the song isn't one of my favorites (This has something to do with four cheerleaders in High School who _thought _they could sing, doing a rendition of that song 20+ times throughout my high school life. bad, bad memories...hehe). Glad you thought my other funnies that were my own were...erm, well, funny, though and you liked the Stepford thing huh:-D cheers for the review.

zigpal- I'm liking this clapping thing you got going on here. hehe. And glad you liked the Stepford!Joyce thing as well. thank you vair much. And so it was 'ruined' in a good way then? Hehehe.

* * *

So guys this one is a little shorter than the chapter have been recently but since this was an episode with NO speech it was a little hard to write. So enjoy (and review...)!

* * *

"Well it could definitely be one of your prophetic dreams," Giles agreed over the phone, "Or it could just be the eternal mystery that is your brain. But I-I'll check it out and um; I'll let you know if I find something. All right bye-bye" He hung up and turned around to ask Spike a question and saw him in the kitchen with Joyce. The two seemed to be having an utterly silent argument, the biscuit tin between them. They hit other lightly, neither really meaning anything by it as Spike's chip didn't set off. Joyce gave him one more slap on the hand before coming away into the living room with the prize: the last biscuit. Spike carried on looking through the cupboards, refusing to give up as Joyce sat down, munching happily on the cookie, on the table that Giles was sat at. "Ever heard of a group called the gentlemen?" Giles asked Spike.

"Group of what?"

"Gentlemen" Giles repeated.

"Never heard of 'em"

"You certain?"

"No" Spike came into the living room looking very disgruntled, "You're out of Weetabix."

"That's because you ate them all" Joyce pointed out.

"Well I wouldn't have to if you didn't eat all the biscuits," Spike argued.

"I thought vampires were only supposed to eat blood," Giles pointed out.

"Yeah but sometimes I like to dunk the biscuits in it. Or crumble the weetabix into the blood- gives it a bit of texture. "

"Since the picture you have just painted means I will never touch food again of again kind you can pick them yourself" Giles told him.

"Sissy" Spike mocked him and Joyce frowned.

"You know this whole Spike constantly here thing is getting a little old," Joyce said and Spike let out a protest of an offended 'hey!', "Maybe we should get someone else to watch him for a while…so we could have some time alone…"

"I don't know," Giles seemed reluctant, "It seems this place will never be completely rid of eau de Spike"

"Hey! I don't have eau!" Spike argued but the couple ignored him.

"Well then…you could stay over at my place…" Joyce suggested slowly, "With Buffy at college we'd have the entire house all to ourselves…."

"I'll rope Xander into looking after him"

* * *

The morning light filtered through a slither of a gap in the curtains and woke Joyce up gently. She stretched slightly and felt the warmth of another sleeping body beside her. Giles was sound asleep and she had slept practically all night with her head on his chest. At some point in the night he had ran her fingers through her hair relaxingly. She remembered that and had fallen asleep in the middle of it as had apparently Giles as his fingers still lay entangled there. She was tempted to go to sleep again, happy where she was but the time read nearly half past eleven in the morning and she never liked to stay in later than that. She pulled away from Giles slowly and he seemed to stay asleep as she got up, and headed over to her dresser. She grabbed the silk dressing gown off the side and put it on. As she tied the tie she felt strong arm wrap around her waist warmly and she craned her neck to see Giles stood behind her and she smiled before the two kissed softly. 

"I could get used to waking up beside you," She told him with a smile. Or at least she meant to. It was just no sound came out.

"Pardon?" He asked, but no sound left his mouth either. He tried again. They both tried a third time but not even a rasp escaped their mouths.

_What's going on?_ Joyce mouthed, _why can't we talk?_

_I don't know, _Giles shrugged.

_Is it just us?_

Giles shrugged again before taking her hand and the two headed downstairs. It was only when he reached the hall that he realized he couldn't get a hold of Buffy anyway, or anyone for that matter as he couldn't communicate by phone. The problem was solved however when Xander, Anya, Buffy and Willow all walked in. Unfortunately with Spike in tow. Oddly, Buffy and Willow both wore boards around their necks. Buffy waved a silent hi, as did the rest.

_You can't talk either?_ Joyce asked and they all shook their heads.

Buffy started writing on her board and held it up for Joyce to see, _It's everybody. Everyone in Sunnydale has gone Hans Christian._

Anya, seeming to feel the silent conversation was too boring for her and she headed into the living room flicking on the TV. Spike smiled and joined her on the sofa to watch.

_Anything? _Buffy asked Giles.

Giles indicated that he hadn't really had time to look yet and Buffy nodded in acceptance. Her eyes widened as she remembered something. She wiped away her message and wrote a new one on the white board and held it up so everyone in the hall and still paying attention could see. _Can't even shout can't even cry. My dream!_

Giles nodded that it was a possible explanation. The group's attention was dragged away by Anya and Xander clicking anxiously to get them to watch what was playing on the television. The group headed into the living room to see the news report being broadcasted.

"Big news item from Sunnydale California. Apparently the entire town has been quarantined due to an epidemic of, as strange at this may sound, Laryngitis.

It seems the town has been rendered unable to speak there's no word yet what might have caused this or what other effects might be seen from this epidemic local authorities has issued a statement, a written statement, I should say, blaming recent flu vaccinations. A few sceptics call it a citywide hoax. In the meanwhile Sunnydale has effectively shut down all schools and businesses will be closed for the time being

and residents are advised to stay home and rest up centers for disease control have ordered the entire town quarantined. No one can go in or out until the syndrome is identified or the symptoms disappear. We'll bring you more on that as it develops."

Joyce was quite amazed at how easily the media excused the odd occurrences in Sunnydale as she grabbed the remote and pressed the mute button. Both Anya and Spike looked unhappy about this change but she found she didn't care as she put the remote beside her and well away from Spike and Anya.

Xander grabbed Willow's board and pen and aggressively wrote a message on it before holding it up for the group to see and they all leaned in to read it. _Well that told us a big information load of not_

_What do we do?_ Joyce asked everyone and Buffy held up her board in answer.

_Keep researching. I will patrol in town tonight. Keep chaos to a bare minimum._

* * *

Giles was staying over again and as Willow had gone home, Buffy was on patrol and Spike had been reluctantly dragged home with Xander and Anya, Joyce and Giles had the house entirely to themselves. All that space and freedom to…. research. Giles had numerous books piled around him that he had brought from home earlier on and none of them were helping. Despite that fact he had an a4 pad filled with pencilled notes. He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes as he felt a headache forming. Joyce took the pencil out of his hand and wrote on the lined paper. 

_Haven't you been researching long enough? You've been non-stop._

He shook his head no.

_You're going to make yourself ill,_ Joyce insisted.

_I'm not,_ Giles argued but Joyce looked unconvinced and to be perfectly honest he wasn't convincing himself. He felt awful.

_Let's try something else_, she seemed to say as she started kissing him. To be honest, once she started, it found it very hard to consider resuming any sort of work at all.

* * *

It was too silent. She'd grown up in the city and so had been used to some form of noise always humming away in the background while she was sleeping. All she could hear now was an eerie silence only interrupted by her and Giles' breathing. She couldn't sleep with the silence. She in fact felt wide-awake. Unable to fall back asleep at all, no matter how long she closed her eyes and tried to mimic Giles' steady breathing, she got up out of bed and headed toward the window. Pulling back the curtain she looked down on the empty Revello Drive. Or was it empty? Squinting she saw several figures gliding eerily down several streets. They were grotesque and seemed to be gliding along in pairs. Dressed like businessmen they seemed to have what could only be described as mental patients travelling along in front of them. She ran over to Giles and shook him awake. He looked very confused for a moment, but immediately gained focus she pointed urgently at the window and tried to get him up. She felt ridiculous to be honest. It was like playing charades constantly. A game she could only ever stand for ten minutes tops. 

Reaching the window she pointed the creatures down below out to him and he frowned as though he had seen them before. She tapped him on the shoulder and he looked at her.

_Do you know them?_ She asked and he shrugged in answer, before a look of recognition flitted across his eyes.

_Do you have any fairytale books?_ He asked her and she gave him a look that said 'of course'. She had a daughter after all and so there had been a time when all she had read were fairytales. She led him out of her bedroom and into the spare room where numerous boxes were piled high. She headed over to one in particular and pulled out several children's books and seemed to be asking for which one he wanted. He grabbed the Complete Collection of Fairytales. As he flicked through the pages, she tapped the book and held her hands up in question as though asking what he was looking for. He came to a certain page and stopped to show it her.

There on one page was an illustration of the demons gliding the streets and on the other side was the title The Gentlemen.

* * *

After researching for the rest of last night and some of this morning Giles and Joyce had met up with the others in a university lecture hall where an overhead projector was available. Giles was stood at the front setting everything up, while Joyce took a seat next to Buffy. When Giles turned on the creepy violin music Buffy through her mother an inquisitive look. Joyce shrugged and rolled her eyes before grabbing a pen and writing on Buffy's board. _He loves this part_

The first transparency was the wrong way round and Joyce let out silent laughter. It wouldn't have been as funny if the mistake had been accompanied by the serious expression of an oblivious Giles. He looked round at them all in confusion and Anya twirled her finger round indicated the OHP needed to be flipped around. He did so.

"WHO ARE THE GENTLEMEN?" It read.

At this point Joyce admitted that she tuned out. She had gone over all this information last night. In fact she had helped find it so it was pretty much just repetition to her. So instead she looked around at the others. Anya was here. Again. She seemed to be 'here' a lot recently and Joyce figured that she and Xander were getting very close which was good. She liked Anya; even she was amusingly and shockingly blunt. Xander had had a hard time just generally. In High School, and with Cordelia and she knew no matter what he said that the fact the others were in college made him feel out of place. Anya seemed to be one of the very good things in his life right now. Willow seemed to be getting along fairly okay without Oz, at least since the evil spell incident. In fact if Joyce's intuition wasn't wrong, and it usually wasn't, Willow had someone else on the scene. Or at least was in process of seeing someone else. Joyce then looked over at Buffy beside her and saw her making a very inappropriate mime and her mouth dropped open in silent shock followed by a silent 'Buffy!'. Buffy looked around at everyone embarrassed before grabbing a stake and repeating the action showing that she was in fact miming slaying the demon and everyone breathed a silent sigh of relief. Well, Willow actually pretended there was nothing amiss in the first place.

Once the 'presentation' was over everyone got up to head to their respective jobs, but Xander ran over to Joyce and Giles.

_You have to take Spike back_ he told them, _We can't take it anymore.  
_

_Even silent he's a pain_, Anya added silently. Joyce shook her head emphatically.

_Oh no, no, no! We_ she mimed researching, _all-day and later we want to…_ she trailed off silently as Buffy headed over with Willow. She sighed in frustration _You know…_ she mouthed. Buffy looked at her with a grimace and Joyce shrugged as if to say 'what do you expect?'. Buffy sighed in acceptance before pointing at the couple.

_You take Spike_ she said to them, _Xander has had him long enough_ she decided, playing the adult before leaving the room. Giles and Joyce just stood there sulking childishly while Anya and Xander looked very happy. That was until Giles told them they were helping with the researching.

* * *

Opening cupboard after cupboard Spike could not find the little marshmallows. She always had them stocked in so where were they? He'd been eating them all night and he was sure he saw another bag. When Joyce walked into the kitchen he ran over to her and asked. 

_You ate the last ones_ she informed him before walking past him to another cupboard. He frowned in annoyance and went to close the cupboard that was home to several packets of crisps and saw a bag of the little marshmallows stuffed behind them way at the back. He pulled them out and held them out to her accusingly. She sighed silently and shrugged as though she couldn't care less and left the room and Spike happily poured several of the marshmallows into his mug of blood and took a big gulp, vamping out in the process.

Walking into the living room Joyce saw that Anya had taken up the large armchair and was in fact fast asleep on it and Xander was apparently sitting on the chair next to it though at the moment he was in the garden taking out some trash. The only seat was one next to Giles on the sofa. Taking it Joyce realized that she felt her house slowly was becoming not her own anymore.

Spike walked in; vamp face on, happily holding his mug of blood when he saw he had no seat. He silently told everyone off angrily before sitting on the floor next to Anya looked very disgruntled.

Xander walked in through the back door, closing it behind him and noticed how silent it was. In all the time he had known Buffy he had never known her house to be silent and yet here he was in a very silent 1630. He headed back into the living room, his footsteps sounding heavier than normal when he saw Anya looking dead to the world, asleep on the armchair. At least he thought she was asleep until he saw Spike stand up, his fanged mouth covered in blood. Xander didn't know what came over him but he charged Spike in anger. Spike seemed to try to protest, but it wasn't very effective as soon after Xander started pummelling him.

Joyce and Giles both looked up at the noise and saw Xander laying into Spike. Looking at an awakening Anya it wasn't very hard to figure out what had happened and that Xander was mistaken. However, neither of them made any attempt to stop Xander from making Spike a walking bruise and merely carried on researching

* * *

A few hours later and they were still researching. At least the guys were anyway. Joyce had fallen asleep mid-research and had dropped the book to the floor as she had fallen asleep on Giles' chest. Across the room in the large armchair, the scene was mirrored as Anya, from boredom, had fallen asleep on Xander. Xander and Giles looked across the room at one another, looked down at the sleeping ladies before looking back at one another. The two men shrugged at each other before carrying on reading. 

As Spike headed back in the room with more blood and even more little marshmallows he couldn't resist clipping Xander round the head as he walked past. He knew if he did it jokily the chip wouldn't set off.

"Ow!" Xander exclaimed in shock and everyone looked up at him in surprise. Sound had come out from his mouth. Actual sound! Anya and Joyce both woke up suddenly, surprised to hear any kind of human voice. "I can talk again!" Xander exclaimed.

"Mores the pity" Spike complained and Xander threw him a look.

"So this means Buffy fixed it?" Joyce asked.

"Apparently" Giles agreed.

"I'm bored now let's go" Anya said directly to Xander.

"Anya…"

"Sorry," She turned to Giles and Joyce, "What I mean is I have had enough of researching and now my voice is back I would like to leave with Xander. Preferably having loud sex with him to celebrate the return of our voices" She added as an after thought and both Giles and Joyce both wore strained smiled.

"Oh-okay" Xander said nervously, "Let's go now"

"Well I know I'm off," Spike said, heading out the door before anyone could say anything.

"I suppose I had better be going too" Giles said reluctantly, "I need to take these books back and see how Buffy faced the Gentleman…"

"Don't go" Joyce told him, staying lay on him so he wouldn't get up.

"I have to…" Giles told her, "I've ran out of spare clothes…"

"Well bring more then," She told him, sitting up.

"Erm, D-do you mean what I, uh, ahem, think you mean?" Giles asked and both Anya and Xander stood in the doorway to the hall watching the two not really caring at all that they were being intrusive.

"Well, I've enjoyed these last few days you've been here," Joyce told him, "Losing our voices to demons not withstanding and I really…really don't think I want that to…well…. end" She looked uncomfortable as though worried what his response might be.

"Joyce…"

"Move in with me," She interrupted before biting her lip nervously.


	10. Doomed

Zigpal-no you musn't let me go through clap withdrawels. haha. and curse your cleverness! You smelt my Xander plan a mile off. haha. Oh, but I just _had _to get him out of the basement! and you shall have to see if Joyce figures it out...hehe. And ooh this is your new favey story? ooh yay! Go me. haha

* * *

Okay-apologies in the extreme as it's another pretty short chapter. Although what happens in it are vital to progression of story...but still witness the shortness. But I will be making it up to you as the next chapter, A New Man, is going to be rather long so...forgive me! hehe

* * *

Moving boxes were everywhere. Some were empty and some were packed to the brim with Giles' things and some were half-packed. 

"I don't see why it was immediately assumed I'd be moving into your house" Giles said as he taped a box closed.

"Because I'm the one who asked," Joyce retorted.

"Well, I wanted to ask"

"Well I said the words." Joyce retorted, "Plus my house is bigger"

"So size matters?" He asked and Joyce merely smirked.

"That house is my home, I couldn't possibly leave it," She told him.

"Well this place is my home," He pointed out.

"You seriously expect me to move into a place that is, for the majority, green?"

Giles went to retort but at that point Buffy walked in through the front door.

"Something horrible is going to happen!" Buffy announced.

"What?" Giles asked and Buffy explained about her earthquake fears.

"Oh honey, it was just an earthquake" Joyce soothed her with a little smile but Buffy seemed unconvinced, "You've grown up with them. You know there's no reason to panic"

"Oh there's plenty reason," Buffy argued, "Last time there was an earthquake I died" To say Joyce looked slightly queasy when Buffy said that would be a slight understatement, "But…obviously I was okay" Buffy added.

"Buffy I understand your anxiety…" Giles told her.

"Oh good, because I would hate for my little untimely horrible death to be ambiguous"

"Buffy don't say things like that," Her mom told her. She hated any reminder that Buffy was predicted to have a very short lifespan.

"Sorry Mom, it's just you know Earthquakes last time equalled Master. I mean what if this _is_ the sign of an impending apocalypse?"

"Buffy, unless evidence speaks otherwise," Giles said, "I think we can assume that it is merely shifting landmasses and not a portent of imminent doom"

Buffy went to argue her point when she suddenly took in the scene around her for the first time.

"Why are there all these packing boxes?" She asked, heading toward one, "And why is Giles' stuff being packed into them?"

Joyce frowned in confusion.

"Xander and Anya didn't say?"

"Say what?" Buffy asked naively

* * *

"Death…carnage…it's a Buffy party!" Buffy said as she and Willow sat on the stairs watching the ambulances and police passing by. 

"I'm so glad you're here" Willow was in tears.

"What happened?"

"I found him. This guy on the bed with me. Dead. Not me dead. Him dead"

"God are you okay?" Buffy hugged Willow lightly, before whispering to her, "Vampire?" Willow shook her head.

"There was so much blood and…there was a symbol…and Percy said I was a nerd!" She felt herself crying again.

"Percy called you a nerd?" Buffy sounded outraged.

"I guess we should report to Giles, get with the demon tracking"

Buffy stopped Willow getting up.

"Speaking of, did you _even know_ about this whole Giles moving in with Mom thing?"

"Well yeah," Willow automatically replied, "Anya said something about it when I picked up a book from Xander's. It wasn't his book…it was one I'd left behind."

Buffy's jaw dropped open so wide in shock and indignation it nearly hit the floor.

"I thought you knew" Willow told her, sounding worried.

"No, I didn't…" Buffy whined, before taking on resolve face, "That's it. I have a bone to pick with Xander, like officially. And it's a really big bone. Dinosaur bone sized."

* * *

"It just made me feel like I was back in High School" Willow said when the gang were all at Giles'. It was a little small on the room front as boxes were taking up half of the seating space. 

"Well, you're not," Joyce told her, "And you weren't even a nerd then. It's him who has obviously not grown up past High School."

"Stupid dumb jock!" Xander said simply, "If it wasn't for you he still would be" Xander speaking seemed to remind Buffy that she had the bone issue with him to deal with.

"You!" She exclaimed, walking over to him.

"Me?"

"You didn't tell me!" She pointed over at her Mom and Giles, "About them! Moving in together!"

Xander held his hands up in a protective defence.

"I thought you knew!"

Buffy sighed in frustration mixed with exasperation.

"Everyone 'thought I knew'!" She exclaimed looking around at them all, "But no one thought that someone has to think to tell me before I can be thought to know" Everyone looked at her silently, "Sorry…I'm just a little tense. Dead guy on the bed and all…"

"Yeah…" Willow agreed, "Oh something else! He…the dead guy…he had been propped up like someone wanted to drain the blood out of him so I think whoever killed him took a load of his blood along with. And I haven't been a nerd for a very long time!"

"Tell me more about this symbol," Buffy said and Willow took out a yellow napkin and unfolded it and everyone crowded round to look at the drawing.

"The symbol for evil CBS?" Joyce frowned and Xander smirked

"They're just going by CBS now" He told her, "But this _could_ be the work of Mr Morley Safer…"

"I know it from somewhere" Buffy told them all, picking up the drawing for a closer look, "I saw it before. God, it's…it's…"

"It's the end of the world" Giles filled in.

"Again?" Xander, Buffy and Willow asked in sync.

"It doesn't mean something a little less apocalypse…y?" Joyce asked hopefully but Giles shook his head.

"It's ah the earthquake…and the symbol…yes"

"The earthquake Buffy had been worried about?" Joyce asked and he nodded, knowing Buffy was going to be gloating that she had been right.

"I told you!" She exclaimed right on cue, "I said end of the world and you were like pooh! Pooh! Southern California! Pooh! Pooh!"

* * *

It was amazing that no matter how much things changed some things stayed the same. After researching the demons when Buffy and co returned from patrol they had discovered some not-too-pleasant things about the Vahralls. All the information on them had been in rhyme, which well gave everything they found out a nice rhythm it had emphasized some of the terrible details and confused the others. The bones of child. Horrifying and disturbing, but only half of the demon's plan. Along with the sacrifice of the three and a word of valios the demons sought to bring about the end of the world. And so while Buffy was off saving the world with her friends Joyce had been left behind, worried to death whether her daughter or the others were going to make it through the night. Like she said, some things never changed. 

Some things had changed though. Now, she wasn't at home alone worrying, but rather at Giles' apartment looking for The Word of Valios…while worrying. Some books that Giles believed would be relevant had already been packed and so while he researched at the table in the living room, Joyce looked through the boxes, getting out all the potentially helpful books. Why were all the helpful ones so old and dusty? Her hands felt gritty and dirty after picking up so many ancient texts.

She reached forward into a box and picked out the last book in there, but put it aside, it opening up to a middle page by itself, when she noticed an intriguing looking box at the bottom of the carton. She gave into her nosiness as she picked it up and opened the lid. Inside were numerous talismans and necklace that all looked to be extremely old, priceless and knowing the area of work Giles came from, powerful. She glanced over for a moment at the open book beside her and saw a diagram labelled Word of Valios and she looked back down in the box and saw a matching talisman and her eyes widened in realization.

"Erm…Rupert…" She called his name and he looked up to see her holding up the book and the talisman next to it.

"Oh dear" He said simply, getting up but before he could head over to her and the talisman three of the Vahrall demons came from behind her, presumably entering through the back door, and before he could issue any sort of warning to her, one of the demons slapped a green, clawed hand across the side of Joyce's face, knocking her head to the side and she fell to the floor inertly. "Joyce!" He exclaimed, running over but two of the three demons attacked him before he could reach her. He was able to see the third take the talisman from her still hand before he blacked out completely.

* * *

Waking up, his head felt terrible and he felt in pain all over. Blinking, everything around him finally came into focus as he straightened his glasses with a bruised hand. He looked to his left and saw Joyce lay unconscious on the floor not too far away from him and it was then that everything came flooding back to him. He ran over to her and so she had an extremely bad injury on the side of her head where the demon had hit her and it was bleeding quite badly. The flow seemed to have slowed down but with the small pool of blood he saw next to her, he worried about whether this was a bad thing or a good thing. He reached over for the phone off the table and called 911, still not leaving Joyce's side. Her breathing seemed to be steady and he sighed a sigh of relief as Emergency Services answered the phone. 

"Y-yes. Hello? I need, I need an ambulance. She, she's badly hurt" He rattled off his address and after assurances from the woman on the other end of the phone he hung up. He cradled Joyce's head in his lap, so her head was propped up slightly as the woman on the phone had instructed and he silently prayed she would be okay.

* * *

Buffy couldn't believe the nerve of Riley. The things he had said had been way out of line. She wanted to stay in the dark place? Yeah right. She'd love to be up there in the bright place dancing along side the bunnies and flowers, but that just wasn't the way the world worked. Last time she'd given into impulses like a normal teenage girl her boyfriend had turned into the walking personification of pure evil. Riley just didn't understand. It was just a job to him. One that he felt relatively safe in, but Buffy knew the reality. She'd buried too many people not to. 

"Oof!" Too lost in her thoughts Buffy walked straight into Xander and Willow when she reached the courtyard outside Giles' house.

"Penny for 'em?" Xander asked, rubbing his arm where Buffy had banged into him.

"Sorry, just a…lot of things going on right now" She shook the Riley thoughts aside, "Anything on the Word of Valios?"

"Nothing." Willow informed her, "We went to all the museums and the other places on Giles' list, but there wasn't anything"

"We got ourselves a whole lot of zilch," Xander added.

"Well put me down for a dose of nada as well," Buffy told them.

"Nothing on your end either?" Willow asked and Buffy shook her head as the three started walking towards Giles' front door.

"No, it's just so frustrating," She pushed open the unlocked door, "Maybe Giles' had found something else…" She trailed off as she saw the mess that was Giles' place. Several of the packed boxes had been knocked over, their contents spilled over the floor and a table seemed to have been upturned (or possibly knocked a little and then carried over by it's own weight).

"What happened here?" Willow asked, catching sight of the mess.

"Mom! Giles?" Buffy called out walking into the house, looking round.

"Buffy" Xander stopped in her tracks and she turned around to see him holding up a piece of paper on which a note had been written in a rush, "They're at the hospital"

* * *

"Mom!" Buffy exclaimed, running over once she stepped into the room her Mom and Giles were in. It had taken the group long enough to find it for as usual the doctors and nurses had been hard to get information out of it. Buffy was relieved to find neither her Mom nor Giles had been admitted to a ward so it couldn't be as worse as she feared, but Giles seemed pretty bandaged up and her Mom was sat on the seat-table with what seemed like stitches and a bandage on the side of her head, "What happened?" 

"It's nothing really" Joyce assured her daughter, pushing Buffy's hands away from her head calmly, "Just after I got rid of the arm bandage" she joked but Buffy seemed anything but amused as she turned to Giles.

"What happened?"

"The Vahrall demons." He explained.

"They came to your house?" Willow asked, "Why?"

"For the word of Valios"

"Wait, you had it all along?" Xander sounded quite affronted as though Giles had put him out by sending him to the museums on purpose.

"The Word of Valios is the name of a talisman not a book" Giles explained, "And I had it all along. I blame myself entirely." His voice was wracked with gilt as he looked over at Joyce and she looked at him sympathetically.

"It wasn't your fault," She told him and he nodded but looked unconvinced, "Really" she added.

"Well either way they have it now" Buffy said, "And they probably have their sacrifices by now too."

"They're on their way to perform the sacrifice now" Giles told her.

"On their way where? You found out what the ritual is for?"

"The Hellmouth" He told them all, "They are going to open the hellmouth. The one in the library."

The group looked at each other sombrely and Buffy was the first to speak.

"Looks like we're going back to High School" She announced, before telling the others head out. Before she left the room herself she turned back, "Get better" She told her Mom, "And no more talisman research for you" She added firmly and Joyce laughed.

"Check"

Happy, Buffy left the room closing the door behind her.

"See this is what happens" Giles said, looking Joyce in the eye for the first time since they had arrived in the hospital. He had been in blind panic when the ambulance had brought them here, as Joyce still hadn't gained consciousness. The Doctors had told him it was just head trauma, concussion and a cut that would need stitches, but nothing too serious. Shock had been the most likely cause for her lack of consciousness as the body had shut down in reaction. He had of course had to make up some tale for why the two of them were so badly beat up, but luckily the doctors of Sunnydale were so used to seeing weird injuries everyday that they didn't ask too many questions. When she had come to after the stitches had been put in he had been overcome with as much guilt as he was relieved. But he had put those thoughts aside for that moment when, as Joyce gained consciousness, in her slight delirium she had started rambling on about the Vahrall demons and the vampires and he had had to cover up the situation pretty quickly.

"See what?" She asked, though she was pretty sure she knew what he was getting at. She'd seen him throwing those guilt-filled looks her way ever since she woke up in the hospital. But she didn't know why he felt guilty. Well, she knew _why_ she just couldn't see how. It was just one of those things in their lives that was bound to happen from time to time. She didn't have a daughter as a slayer without getting a few lumps and bumps from demons passing through. Okay, so the injury she had had been more than a lump or bump, but still, there was no need for him to feel guilty.

"How this sort of thing happens," he explained, but then realized from the confused expression Joyce threw him that it was more of a half-explanation than anything and he elaborated, "if I-I…well, move in…with you then a-all this, my…the demon texts and artefacts they will all be there too and your house will become like a walking target and it will put _you_ in so much more danger"

"_If_ you move in?" Was all Joyce asked, noting his choice of words.

"Pardon?"

"Not having second thoughts there are you?" She asked with a raised eyebrow and he looked at her in mild surprise.

"Why no, I thought perhaps that _you_ were," He told her honestly.

"No, of course not" She told him with a little laugh and gave him a light kiss, "A little danger is not going to change my mind"

"I'd hardly call what we came across tonight 'a little danger'," Giles pointed out, "Buffy and her friends still have an apocalypse to avert after all"

"Little danger…large danger…either way it _isn't_ changing my mind," She assured and looked into his eyes so he was forced to look directly at her as well, "You have got to stop thinking that every bad evil thing that pops up in our lives is going to break us apart. Our relationship is not doomed. I'm here to stay," She told him with a smile, "Whether you like it or not"


	11. A New Man

g120-Damn! A witty review lost forever in the cyber...wastepaper basket world. And yes you will have to have Buffython tomorrow hehe, a rerun catch up on everything, haha. And yeah about the scans...I did consider included them in the story but the scenes just seemed too boring and not contributing to the plot. Although it would have brought up my word count...damnit! Thanks for the review anyway.

zigpal- more claposity. yay! hehe. I know- Buffy keeps finding out things last. It's terrible. But I think soon they are gonna be more 'oh yeah Buffy- must tell her' otherwise Buffy may have another rant. haha. Thanks for the review and glad you are excited about this chapter but I have strong suspicions it's not what you expected...whether this is a good thing or a bad thing you tell me.

Rabidreject-thanks for the review.

* * *

Okay- so a long chapter finally. yay. I think I practically re-wrote this entire episode, but it ended up a lot darker than I intially intended it to be...but this _is_ the Buffyverse and as Joyce said this relationship has it's loopdiloops...so read, enjoy and review.

* * *

"Well that's the third to last box I think…" Joyce said closing up the box she had just filled. Giles' apartment was almost empty now. It would be more so if it wasn't for the numerous item-filled boxes piled around, "I actually think you have more stuff than a woman" She told him with a grin, deliberately teasing him, but he didn't respond. Not even a flicker of a smile, but he had seemed to be in a bad mood since she arrived, "What's up?" She asked casually, and he looked up from his reverie.

"Hmm?"

"You. You've been in a bad mood since I arrived" She pointed out.

"I most certainly have not!" He argued, but sighed when he saw the look she was throwing him, "Okay-it was just…something at Buffy's birthday party."

"Oh yeah. I forgot about that," Joyce admitted, "I saw her today though for traditional mother-daughter birthday thing. Funnily enough, it may be her nineteenth but I spent as much time buying things for her as I did when she turned fifteen." She took a moment to contemplate how long ago Buffy _had_ been fifteen, "God, I can't believe she's nineteen already. So, erm, how did the party go?"

"Absolutely fine," He told her, "If you didn't happen to be a middle-aged man, sat alone in a corner with an empty party plate"

Joyce burst out laughing and he looked hurt.

"I'm sorry it's just…" She failed yet again to stop herself laughing, but finally composed herself, "It was just a very funny picture you just painted"

"I can assure it wasn't funny at the time," He told her, "I felt very out of place…and scrutinised. And Buffy's new boyfriend…uh, Riley…he looked absolutely petrified talking to me"

Joyce tried to keep herself from laughing again as she walked over to him.

"Ah yes…Riley. She was telling me about him and obviously he was going to be nervous," She told him, "Boys get very nervous around their girlfriend's father figures…more around the mothers I think…but still."

"I'm a father figure?" He asked and she tapped him playfully on the arm.

"Don't play naïve," She told him, "You've known that since Buffy and I first _arrived_ in Sunnydale. And what did you expect to feel like at a party filled with a load of nineteen year olds? I mean I wasn't even invited to that particularly bash"

"Well, I suppose being her mother they didn't consider to…"

"Exactly" She interrupted him, "Sad as it is as Buffy gets older your part in Buffy's life is _going_ to change. And as much as you may have been involved in Buffy's parties up to now, she's a college student now and well…things are changing" He looked saddened, "_But,_" She added, "When she gets a little bit older than that it will change back again oddly enough," She shrugged, "It's the way of the world. But there is an upside"

"And what's that?" He asked, but felt he already had the answer when she draped her arms around his neck.

"_We_ get a lot more time to ourselves" She answered with a smile, before kissing him warmly on the lips and pretty soon all his concerns about his awkwardness at the party and general loss of direction in life were soon gone. Eventually they broke apart and he took a look around his almost empty flat.

"I'll be, uh, be putting this place back on the market this week," he informed, picking up a forgotten book off the side and flicked through it casually.

"Oh really?" Joyce asked, "You don't think you should just…hand it over to someone you know or something? Keep an eye on it" She laughed but noticed he wasn't paying attention as he focused on a particular piece of information on a page in the book he had just picked up. "What?" She asked, leaning over to get a better look at the page herself. He held it out to her.

"Oh…." She tried to sound as though the information meant something to her. It didn't. "And this means…?"

"It means we need to find Buffy," He told her.

* * *

"See here's her office," Joyce said pointing at a door that said PROFESSOR M WALSH. "I told you it was this way." 

"It's a complicated building," Giles defended himself and Joyce smirked as he knocked on the door.

"Yes?" A voice asked from inside and the couple opened the door and stepped in. Maggie Walsh looked quite confused at the sight of both of them, recognizing neither.

"Professor Walsh I presume?" Giles asked, "You're hard to find. These walls are quite the labyrinth. I felt like-"

"He felt like someone who wouldn't ask for directions," Joyce filled in, stepping forward to hold out her hand to Maggie and she shook it, "I'm Joyce Summers"

"Ah," Maggie nodded, "Buffy's Mother?"

"Yes" Joyce admitted, not without some pride.

"Your daughter's a bright woman, Mrs Summers"

"Miss," Joyce corrected automatically and then frowned as she had never actually changed her title or taken back her maiden name, "Ms…Mrs…whatever…erm, Joyce. Call me Joyce. And thank you, I've always thought so."

Maggie laughed slightly, seemingly from empathy to Joyce's title situation.

"The title professor simplifies things like that" Maggie joked and Giles started to feel very out of place as he was stood offside looking like a loose whatsit at a wedding and not at all involved in the conversation. As though hearing his thoughts Joyce looked over in his direction.

"Oh sorry," She apologized to Maggie, "This is Rupert Giles"

"Hello" Maggie shook his hand as well.

"We were actually looking for Buffy," Giles told her.

"Well, erm…she's not here, but if I see her…"

Giles looked at all the credentials laid out on the walls of the office.

"Buffy's been very influenced by your cause. She quotes you quite often." He smiled, "Sometimes she sounds like an introductory text book herself."

"I don't lecture from a textbook" Maggie informed him harshly, "But I'm glad she's inspired by the material."

Sensing the tension in the room Joyce, she attempted to break it.

"I enjoyed Psychology when I was at college," She admitted and Maggie nodded with a smile, "I didn't major in it but…but what I did was very interesting."

"It is a never-ending subject," Maggie admitted, "You can always make new discoveries even if you're just a student. For example, Buffy's dissertation she handed into me last week was very impressive"

"Really? I'm so glad," Joyce smiled, "She wasn't very…well…involved in High School, but now…it's just so nice to know she's getting along well academically and not just sl…" She trailed off, Buffy had told her about Riley being part of the Initiative at their birthday shopping trip and her daughter said the way Riley was talking she had her suspicions Maggie was involved, but Joyce couldn't risk it so she quickly covered up the slip-up, "s…spending too much time…on other…things" Maggie squinted at her suspiciously and Joyce wondered whether she had caught on the slip-up and so was relieved when she changed the topic.

"So what did you major in, Joyce?" She asked and Joyce smiled with relief. Art she could talk about. Safely.

"Erm, Art History," She told her, "I actually own, uh, Sunnydale Gallery a few miles from here. Not an original name, but it's the only one in the town so…." She shrugged.

"Oh I've been there quite a few times," Maggie admitted, "Some lovely tribal art displays. And some of the fine art there you could get quite lost in. Renaissance?"

"Some of it yes," Joyce answered eagerly, happy she had found someone who also shared an interest in the subject.

As the two women engaged in art talk Giles drifted out of the conversation and found himself feeling even more out of place. Professor Walsh had snapped at him and seemed to shove him away, but she was getting on with Joyce like a house on fire. Another instance in which he was left on the sidelines.

* * *

"This prince/demon guy was supposed to rise at sunset so aren't we like late?" Willow asked, as she, Xander, Joyce and Giles were walking through a cemetery towards a mausoleum. Actually, Giles was walking briskly and Joyce, Xander and Willow were trying to keep up. 

"What's with the speed?" Xander said, trying to gather some form of oxygen.

"Willow's question explains the reason I believe," Giles replied, not stopping.

"He's in a mood because he got lost in the college," Joyce translated, "And then he couldn't find Buffy anyway…"

"Male pride has been wounded huh?" Willow asked and Joyce nodded.

"Something like that"

"Well I wouldn't be surprised if we're entirely too late," Giles told them as he opened the gate to the mausoleum, "Demon loose, carnage everywhere"

The group stepped inside a very clean crypt. Clean save for a few cobwebs anyway.

"Your better demons will clean up after themselves," Xander joked.

"I've been less bothered about demonic messy clean-ups lately," Joyce admitted, "Ever since…" She trailed off as she looked over at Willow and the girl blushed in guilty embarrassment, "Let's say ever since a couple of weeks ago"

"I don't understand," Giles sounded very confused, "there should be ruptured earth and broken stone. Oh well, apparently it hasn't happened yet. A bit of luck"

"Oh you know what I bet?" Willow suggested, "I bet the Initiative have taken care of it"

"Riley's troops?" Joyce checked and Willow nodded.

"Yeah, it has that 'too neat' look. They must have cleaned up the place"

Giles hadn't a clue what they were talking about and felt extremely lost.

"What?"

"The Initiative" Joyce repeated, "They may have got here before us"

"Probably" Willow corrected.

"_Did_" Xander corrected again, taking a good look round the too-clean mausoleum.

"Stop all of you," Giles held up his hands to stop them talking, "What are you talking about? W-what's the initiative? And what _on earth_ has it to do with Buffy's boyfriend?"

"You know." Willow said, sounding slightly unsure, "Riley's one of the commandos. I'm sure you know"

"What?" Giles asked in exasperation, "No I bloody don't!" He exclaimed.

"Yeah, you do. I'm sure Buffy told you," Xander continued, oblivious to Giles' mounting anger, "You know and Professor Walsh is in charge….remember? You know? You don't…know…"

"Professor Walsh?! That fishwife?!" He exclaimed, feeling all the stress from the day building up to a loud climax. Joyce seemed to sense this too.

"Willow, Xander," She said, her eyes still on Giles, "Why don't you go home? There's nothing more for you to do here"

Sensing the tension as well, the two didn't need to be asked twice as they dashed out of the crypt at a speed usually reserved for running away from vampires.

"You knew about Riley being part of this…this 'Initiative'?" Giles asked once the other two had left and Joyce nodded, "Well why didn't you say anything?!"

"When you said you met Riley I assumed you meant you knew!" Joyce replied, not to be out beaten in the shouting department, "Now what is the _matter_ with you today?"

"What's the matter is I've been trying to get a single scrap of information about our mysterious demon collectors and no one bothered to tell me that Buffy's dating one of them"

Joyce suddenly understood where it was all coming from. Buffy slowly needed him less and less and he was unsure of what part he now played in her life. Buffy may need her Mom less and less lately but Joyce would always _be_ her Mother, but Giles…he had no title per se and it was making him feel a little lost. Add to that the rest knew about The Initiative and Riley well, she could see he was feeling pretty much unneeded. She walked over to him and held his hand in an attempt to calm him down. However she could feel him still tensed up, still stressed, and still frustrated and she sighed as she realized he would have work through this on his own. Men and their stupid stubborn natures.

"Now I am going to go home," She told him, "and when you're in a better mood to talk about this I'll be waiting _and,_" She added as an after-thought, "If you want to sit here and sulk for a while…well I won't hold it against you"

"I'm not going to-" He went to argue but she just kissed him lightly on the cheek and gave him a knowing smile, before leaving the mausoleum and closing the door slightly behind her.

"I'm being ridiculous" Giles told himself in the silence though he didn't sound very convincing. He just felt so mad, but in fact he wasn't mad at Joyce or Buffy or Willow and Xander or even Riley or Maggie Walsh. He was mad at himself and the whole situation. Where was he in life really? He was unemployed, not even a member of the Watcher's Council anymore and Buffy no longer needed him with regards to slaying…or with regards to anything in fact. He realized the one strong good thing going in his life right now was Joyce and in his bad mood he had practically taken it out on her. He sighed in resignation, "I _am_ being ridiculous" He packed up the supplies back into the bag and left the mausoleum, closing the door behind him, but he had barely got a few paces away when he heard a voice coming from inside. But he was sure it had been empty except for him. He headed back inside.

"Did someone-"

"Oh bugger I thought you'd gone!"

* * *

"Who's Maggie Walsh?" Ethan asked drunkenly over the dozens of empty glasses piled on the table between him and Giles. 

"Oh she's awful." Giles informed him with a slur, looking down at the glass in his hand, "S-she kept giving me these _looks_. And implying I was some weird man who just _happened_ to work at Buffy's school as though I wasn't even-"

"You know you're very attractive" Giles heard Ethan say and he looked up in confusion and saw Joyce stood there looking very unimpressed while Ethan ogled her.

"Jjjoyce." Giles managed to get out, "What are you doing here?"

"You two know each other?" Ethan asked, pointing limply at the two as he tried to gain focus.

"A friend of mine is working here as a waitress," Joyce informed Giles, ignoring Ethan completely, "Gave me a call asking if I knew how you were spending your hours in a state of blind drunkenness"

"See? All women…the whole lot of 'em…spies…" Ethan murmured more to himself than anything.

"I didn't believe it when she told me," Joyce ignored Ethan again, "When I said I wouldn't hold sulking against you I didn't know _this_ is what you had in mind. Drinking yourself senseless with…with…" Her eyes fell on Ethan, "Who are you anyway?"

He held out his hand and with a grimace she shook it.

"Ethan" he hiccupped slightly, "Ethan Rayne" She looked at him with a frown as though to place him from somewhere else.

"Joyce Summers…Don't I know you?" When she asked the question Ethan's eyes widened as he realized where he recognized _her_ from.

"Oh I remember you" He said, "You're the girl with the handcuffs"

"What?!" Joyce nearly choked on oxygen in shock at the reference.

"I was the brilliant mind behind that little scheme with the chocolate," Ethan explained proudly, "Very fun that was. Not so much at the end when you caught me…"

"_You_ were the one who turned us all into teenagers?!" She asked him sounding more outraged than she intended. As much as the final outcome from the incident had been a good one, the memories themselves were painfully embarrassing and she wasn't easily ready to forgive this Ethan Rayne for it.

"Yes I was," Ethan laughed before pausing in reflection, "Forgot to wager Ripper's return into the equation though. I remember you very well though. Black coat. Mini skirt. Bit of an attitude. Very interesting" Joyce truly didn't know how to respond to the comments and so just stood there in stunned silence, "_Ripper_ took a liking to you which is saying something. He never took a particular liking to any girl. You must be something special" He looked over at the drunk Giles, "And you kept her around you old dog" Ethan laughed before looking back at Joyce for a moment.

She kept noticing him looking at her, but it wasn't in a casual way or even in a flirty way. It seemed as though he were trying to get some read on her, looking over her like she was a book that could be read. It made her feel slightly vulnerable, but not too much. Looking at Ethan she didn't feel too threatened by him at all, just wary. After all if he could turn all the adults of Sunnydale into teenagers he was definitely someone to be wary of. But he didn't seem too bad of a character- he had a cheeky glint in his eyes that suggested he was into a habit of being up to no good. He gave her a 'aren't I great?' grin and she found he made her smile. She turned to look at Giles.

"So why _are_ you here? Drunk" Joyce asked and Giles immediately started rambling about his feelings of uselessness.

"…And Buffy doesn't need me. Even you knew about this Initiative thing before I did and you got on with that bloody Walsh woman and now you're even getting on with _him_!" He gestured in the direction of Ethan and Joyce rolled her eyes.

"Fine. Wallow in self-pity," She told Giles, "But when you're ready to grow up I'll be at home." She turned to Ethan, "It was…._ sort of_ nice meeting you Ethan," She told him not without some confusion as to how she should act towards him.

"Pleasure was indeed all mine," He assured her and the look of confusion flitted across her face again, before she threw one last fleeting glance of concern mixed with disapproval at Giles, and left.

Ethan watched her with interest as she left. He had already put the mixture in Giles' drink that would give a surprise in the form of a Fyarl the next morning, but he hadn't added into the bargain the possibility of Giles having a girlfriend on the scene and he actually couldn't wait to see how she'd react. In fact, he had a feeling she would react very unkindly towards him. She had a lot of strong energy about her and a very strong aura, partly to do with her being the mother of the slayer partly all of her own doing, but it appealed highly to the Chaos Mage in him. Energy was something that fed Chaos and could be used to create it.

* * *

It was the next day and night had almost fallen already and Joyce still hadn't heard from Giles. She had refused to call him on principle. After all, if he wanted to immaturely get drunk with his friends then that was his decision, but now she was getting worried. No matter how drunk he had been last night, or how annoyed yesterday he wouldn't just not call. Picking up the phone she dialled the number for the house she realized he wouldn't be living in much longer at all. The phone continued to ring and no one picked up. Hanging up, she made a decision to head over there. Grabbing her coat off the hook she pulled open the front door to see Ethan stood on the doorstep about to ring the doorbell. 

She jumped slightly, startled at the sight of him stood there, but stood her ground immediately after.

"Hi" She greeted him, a slight tone of suspicion in her voice.

"Hullo" He smiled tightly.

"What are you doing here?" She asked him, sensing something different about him from last night. Possibly the lack of alcohol poisoning?

"Can I come in?" He asked, not answering her question and not waiting for her to answer his as he stepped past her and into the house, closing the door behind him.

"What do you want?" She asked straightforwardly, immediately sensing something was wrong, "Is it Rupert?" She asked as she figured Ethan was probably the last one to have seen him.

"You know last year, I wondered what it was in you that made Ripper so interested" He told her, yet again not answering her question, "But last night when I saw you for the first time…that is without the haze of Teenager surrounding you…I…you know what an aura is don't you Ms Summers?"

"Yes" She nodded, unsure of where he was heading with this.

"Well yours is remarkably strong…. the energy surrounding you is extremely vibrant…rare to come across such a case as yours in fact," He turned his back to her as he started to monologue and feeling in danger Joyce looked around for something to knock him out with and her eyes landed on a vase that a couple of days had contained flowers that were now dead and thrown away. "It was hard to ignore in fact. Made me wonder whether it was that which Ripper initially saw in you…he was always so very good at spotting that sort of thing," She raised the vase and was so very near to hitting him on the head with it when he turned around and grabbed the arm holding it, "Of course _that also_ might be part of the intrigue" He admitted, squeezing the wrist hard enough for her to drop the vase which smashed on the floor loudly and she knew even without looking that bruises had immediately formed when he held her wrist.

"Get off me!" She ordered him, tugging away from the grip successfully but as she went to rush past he stopped her again.

"Energy is a powerful thing," He said as he walked towards her and she started to back up in the direction of the wall. As she looked at him she noticed he appeared so very different from the night before. His eyes didn't reflect a cheeky, troublemaker persona anymore, but something a lot darker. And it scared her. "As powerful as chaos…in fact they go hand in hand…" With nowhere else left to go she backed up directly into the wall with a painful thud and she felt cornered. No not felt, was. "Energy such as yours could feed a chaotic source so much…a power boost…." He stopped talking as he suddenly developed a focused look and she wondered why he had suddenly become so silent and she tried to use the break as an opportunity to escape but he had backed her up so tightly against the wall she had no space to run. She tried to move her hands but he roughly grabbed them and she felt more bruises forming as he pulled the hands back down away from him and the sleeve on her top ripped at the seam from the strain. And then she felt it. Subtle at first, like a slight humming. A practically indiscernible pull from what she could only pinpoint as the center of her chest…near her heart. Then suddenly the feeling became painful as she felt something tug at her from within and she feared that if the pain and the tugging became any stronger her heart would actually stop. And as much as she felt her own energy depleting she felt the rush it was giving Ethan in a way she could only describe as a magical fix. She felt as though he was invading her very being and she got a slight sense of what he was doing and realized she only had a few moments to break free, before she felt it would be too late…whatever too late was. In a bout of strength, powered by pure desperation she tugged her hand away from his grip and did the only thing that came to mind. She slapped him. Hard. He stumbled away, the shock breaking the connection and that's when Joyce felt the full effect of what had happened to her. Without the constant humming connection to distract her she felt the full pain of the process and she felt herself wanting to collapse in agony but while Ethan was still stood there in her house, she refused to. He looked at her in shock, the dark look from his eyes completely gone. He went to go towards her again but she twitched away in fright automatically and he ran out the door, leaving it wide open.

Joyce felt violated as though her body were no longer her own. The agonizing pain didn't hide from her the fact that she felt dirty, used and like that of an empty shell. She collapsed on the floor in sobs.

* * *

"Maybe Giles is just here," Buffy suggested hopefully as she, Xander, Willow, and Anya and Riley arrived at her Mom's place. The group of four, soon joined by Riley, had arrived at Giles' to find it a complete wreck. After some research they had linked it all back to a Fyarl, but before they could do anything about it Buffy had insisted that they check her Mom was okay and if Giles was there anyway and they were worried about nothing. At least that was what Buffy hoped. 

"Not likely," Anya scoffed, "A demon ruined his place, left a ripped shirt showing he probably ate him or a least maimed him anyway and then said demon is seen in Giles' car. I tell you, he ain't gonna be here." She looked at Buffy, "You should probably start planning funeral arrangements now. Make it easier on yourself."

"Anya" Xander said warningly getting his oblivious girlfriend to shut up as he saw the distraught look on Buffy's face as they walked up to the front path. And then he saw what the other three were looking at. The wide-open front door. It was too uncannily like the scene at Giles' flat and Buffy immediately started running towards the door followed closely by himself, Willow and Riley. Anya walked casually behind them all catching up with them soon enough.

"Mom! Mom!!" Buffy called as she ran through the front door in panic and stopped abruptly when she saw her Mom on the floor huddled against the floor, "Oh my god Mom" She said as the others walked in behind her.

"Oh my god…" Willow grimaced as Buffy's Mom looked a wreck and more vulnerable and weak than Willow had ever seen her. Bruised on both wrists and from what Willow could see also on the back of her neck, the right arm of her blouse had been ripped harshly at the seams and her face was tear stained.

"Was it the Fyarl demon?" Riley asked professionally as he stepped forward to assess the situation the way Maggie had taught him, but Joyce flinched away from him in a major way when he moved toward her.

"She doesn't know you like face-to-face…" Buffy reasoned, kneeling down next to her Mom and was surprised to see Joyce flinched a little when she moved toward her, "Mom it's just me, Buffy." She assured her and in instance of role-reversal pushed her Mom's hair back in a motherly way and saw small purple bruising on the side of her face that she wagered was from hitting a wall…possibly being forced to back into it.

"Oh my god," Xander breathed the presently popular phrase in shock, "What happened to her?"

"I don't know," Buffy shook her head, "But it doesn't look to be the work of that Fyarl. Let's erm, try and get her onto the sofa." She said to Xander and Willow before turning to her Mom, "Come on, let's get onto the sofa huh?" She suggested and Joyce nodded slightly as her daughter, Xander and Willow helped her up and she sat down the living room settee. Anya and Riley just watched helplessly.

"What did this to you?" Buffy asked, wondering whether this and the Giles situation were linked. It seemed too much of a coincidence not to be. Joyce scrunched up her eyes as though trying to remember something.

"He erm…came by…"

"Who came by?" Buffy asked urgently. Whoever it was, Buffy was going to kill them.

"E…erm…Ethan Rayne" Joyce eventually whispered the name and Buffy, Willow and Xander looked at each other in horrific realization.

"Willow, Xander," Buffy looked over at Anya, "And erm you too, Anya, I guess…stay here with Mom. Get her cleaned up and just look after her okay?"

"Sure thing." Willow assured her, "What are you going to do?"

Buffy tightened her grip on the silver letter opener she had taken from Giles'.

"Me and Riley. We're going to find Ethan."

* * *

Stood in Ethan's motel room Giles was back to normal…after Buffy had accidentally stabbed him. He wasn't looking too happy though in Ethan's clothes. He looked as though he felt ridiculous, which he did. 

Riley was presently keeping Ethan from running off and Buffy charged at the smarmy British git.

"You!" She exclaimed in pure anger and Ethan let out a petrified 'argh!' but couldn't run anyway as Riley held onto his collar tightly.

"Buffy! What are you doing?" Giles asked.

"Maiming Ethan" She explained simply before heading for him again, but Giles held her back.

"Buffy you can't do that" He said and she turned to look at him.

"You think I'm going to let him get away with what he did to Mom?"

Giles let go of Buffy as his face became deadly serious.

"What did he do to Joyce?" He asked, but Buffy didn't answer as in a blind rage she headed for Ethan again but Ethan's words stopped her in her tracks.

"I'm sorry," His voice sounded more genuine than she'd ever heard it.

"How can you think that's enough?" She asked in disgust.

"It's not," Ethan admitted, "I've done some bad things in my life…most of which I enjoyed, but then there are worse things…. which also sometimes were fun…. but this was one of the worst of the worse things." He looked at Buffy, feeling extremely vulnerable as he admitted these things- things that he guessed could be called his weak excuse for morals, "And it wasn't at all fun. Chaos sometimes becomes chaotic…." He smiled weakly, "And it can't be controlled. It controls you. That's usually the thrill"

And suddenly Buffy felt she scarily understood as her anger started to slowly ebb away. Unbelievably she felt herself relating it all back to the Angel/Angelus situation. Angel was a sweet, generous and kind soul that harboured a dark side that was the most pure evil Buffy had ever come across and it was so strong that sometimes Angel himself found it hard to control. Weren't there similarities with Ethan? Maybe not the 'nice soul' part of it, but definitely the loss of control to something too dark for anyone to comprehend.

Ethan felt Buffy scrutinising him and he shifted uncomfortably.

"Well I'd rather like to be off," He announced, "I'm not one for reunions or sharing-our-feelings sessions" He went to get up when several military police walked in and began to handcuff him, "What?"

"By the authority of the US military," Riley recited, "you're being taken into custody pending a determination of your status," he looked to one of the MPs "Take it from here" and Riley followed them as the military police led a disgruntled Ethan out of the motel room.

"What did he do to your Mother Buffy?" Giles asked again and Buffy realized she had never answered him the first time.

"I really don't know," Buffy told him honestly, "I arrived at the house and she was just _there_ on the floor…in like a huddle. She had bruises on her wrists and her top was ripped I think…" Buffy shook her head at the memory, the horrible images imprinted on her brain, "For want of a better description she looked…. she looked like a rape victim," Buffy admitted, hating to say the actual words.

The moment Buffy said that phrase Giles was sure he knew what Ethan had done and he wished he had let Buffy maim him. And then he could have finished him off.

"I know what he did," he said, "I have to go to her" Buffy stopped him.

"She's with Willow and Xander…Also Anya. She's okay for now, but _tell me_ what happened" She insisted.

"Every person has an essence Buffy, an aura," She nodded to show she understood, "Some are stronger than others. Like you, your Mother's is very strong. Chaos thrives on this energy that people give off as-"

"As it's people who create chaos?" Buffy filled in and Giles nodded.

"Yes, exactly. And an aura as strong as Joyce's would send someone who worshipped chaos into a blind frenzy"

"But _what_ did he do?" Buffy asked again, "You've explained the whys Giles, but I want the whats."

"My best guess is he tried to take that essence from her…for his own purposes…which is both painful and also…lethal," He admitted, "I have to see her" And not even waiting for Buffy to reply or to even come with, he left, leaving Buffy stood in the motel room alone as Riley walked back in.

* * *

Giles used the newly cut keys to open the front door and rushed in, pausing briefly to close the door, as he headed into the living room and saw Joyce curled up on the sofa in between Willow and Xander. Anya sat on the coffee table facing them. Willow had obviously tended to Joyce, possibly with the help of the other two, as her clothes had been changed as the top she was wearing wasn't ripped, and she had a plaster on her wrist and he guessed the other bruises had been tended to. 

When she saw him walk in, Joyce's instinct was to run over to him for comfort but something deeper than that made her inch away when he walked over to her. She wanted him to hold her so much, but at the same time she didn't want him to touch her. Some primal part of her blamed him and she couldn't reason with it. He looked incredibly hurt by her reaction and her heart went out to him but she didn't move any closer.

Sensing they needed some time alone, Willow got up and signalled for the other two to follow suit as they headed out of the living room and into the hall. As soon as they were gone Giles took a seat next to Joyce and was relieved when she didn't move away from him.

"I'm so, so sorry Joyce" He told her, his voice filled with emotion and she looked at him with understanding.

"I know," He smiled slightly glad she knew how he felt and understood, "But that doesn't change what happened" She pursed her lips as though trying to stop herself from crying, "And I just can't handle it right now"

"Handle what?" He asked, fearing her answer.

"I can't…" She took a deep breath, trying even harder to prevent herself from bursting into tears, "I can't handle being around you right now," She saw the hurt in his eyes and she wished she could make it all better, just forgive him, kiss him and move on but everything in her told her she couldn't, "I'm sorry…but I don't know why I feel this way right now…but I can't help it either" She attempted to explain and Giles just sat there in silence looking at her, clearly trying to be strong while she sat there an emotional wreck. She gave up trying and just let herself cry, but successfully held back the loud sobs as the tears started to pour down her face as she told him what she needed to, "I love you Rupert and I will always love you and I know that I don't ever want to be without you, but…" She trailed off as she bit back tears as the crying threatened to overtake her words, "it's just too much right now. I need time" She watched him carefully as she cried silently, waiting for his reaction.

"I understand," He told her and Joyce really knew he did, but it didn't make the situation any better.

* * *

Even though they had left the room, Willow, Xander and particularly Anya had listened into the entire conversation and while Anya seemed to be viewing the entire thing like a live soap opera Xander looked devastated and Willow was close to tears and they all watched sadly as Giles left the house silently, leaving a crying Joyce on the sofa.

* * *

Buffy sat with her Mom on the sofa, where they had been sat together for the past twenty minutes. Xander, Willow and Anya had gone home when she had arrived and they had left without saying a single word. She and her Mom had talked about everything except what happened. It seemed like both of them saw it as the best thing to do as her Mom clearly didn't seem ready to talk about the event fully yet. Looking round the house, Buffy noticed something. 

"Hey, where's all of Giles' stuff?" She asked casually, but stopped feeling so casual when she saw the look on her Mom's face, "What is it?"

"I can't have him moving in right now Buffy" Joyce told her.

"What? Why?"

"After what happened…I-I can't deal with him being here 24/7 I need some space,"

"But…" Buffy was very confused and didn't see the connection.

"I just can't understand how Ethan was such a big part of Rupert's life," Joyce half-explained.

"I know it's a little out there," Buffy admitted remembering her disbelief at finding out Ethan and Giles were old pals, "But just because Ethan is evil, please don't take it out on Giles."

"It's not _what_ Ethan did that's changed everything" Joyce continued to explain, hoping to God her daughter would understand because she needed someone to, "It's the fact that I know that that sort of thing was a part of Rupert's life and he _accepts_ that. I was terrified when it happened," She admitted and looked Buffy in the eye, "And I think some part of me blames Rupert for what happened."

"What?" Buffy couldn't believe her Mom would think that of Giles.

"I've said to you, I've said to Rupert how I was afraid of being hurt again," Joyce carried on, "And I think part of me blames him for letting it happen because…because he promised he wouldn't." Joyce sighed sadly for as she said the words she realized they were true. She looked at Buffy, tears in her eyes again so her vision was slightly blurred, "What the hell was it that I saw?" She asked, not expecting an answer, but Buffy did reply.

"What you've been asking about Giles all along," Buffy told her, "The dark past none of us would tell you about"

As Joyce took in what Buffy said, she had nothing to say in reply and she just sat there in silence and Buffy tried to comfort her as she began to sob again.

* * *

The next day Buffy arrived at Giles' apartment and didn't bother to knock as she walked straight in. He was there unpacking the many boxes that not a few days ago he and Buffy's Mom had been packing up. 

"Good job I hadn't put the flat up for sale yet," Giles joked at a terrible attempt to sound light-hearted. He failed miserably. He looked over at Buffy who was throwing him a look that showed she was unconvinced and he sighed in resignation. "She won't answer my calls Buffy. She won't talk to me or see me."

"I know," Buffy had nothing more to say.

"I feel so guilty," He admitted, "I can't believe I let Ethan do that to her. I should have been able to stop him, protected her. I told her I would."

"I know how bad you feel Giles," Buffy told him, "but…what's done is done…Mom just needs some space right now"

"It's been one day Buffy," He said, "And I miss her so much"

"I know" Buffy said again, "Just give her some time," And she left silently leaving Giles to unpack alone.

To be continued.


	12. The I in Team

Rabidreject- thanks for the review. And I know- Ethan really has done it. hehe. but no, promise they won't be apart too long., After all, we need at least one successful couple in the buffyverse don't we? hehe. And thanks for the speed-highquality compliment.

zigpal- thanks for the review (and claps hehe) and I'm glad you get why it was a sad chapter. Because relationships aren't perfect all the time are they? But like I said, I won' t have them apart for long. ;-)

_

* * *

I never knew what enough was until I'd had more than my share. I let the darkness in and it was then that I lost the dare. It was then that I lost the day _

The house was completely empty. So empty she was sure her footsteps echoed loud enough for neighbours to hear. She should put the television on in the background. Or the radio. For some noise. Just so the place wouldn't seem so silent and empty.

She'd kept asking for months hadn't she? What was it in his past that he didn't want her to know? She had told him that none of it was going to drive her away, that he shouldn't be so worried. But it had driven her away. Ethan had.

She remembered seeing Ethan at the bar. She hadn't thought much of him. He made a little nervous, but that was all. She had no idea what he was really like. But Giles had. Giles knew him very well from what Buffy had said. So why hadn't he protected her? Stopped him going after her? He said he wasn't going to let her get hurt. But so had Hank. So had Ted in fact and he'd been a homicidal robot. Every single time she was promised protection and each time she was hurt, more and more each time.

The not-so-funny thing was when she thought about what happened, her initial reaction was to go to Giles for comfort. She knew she could. She knew he was waiting for her. But she also knew she wasn't ready yet. She knew deep down it was because she saw Giles linked too heavily with Ethan.

So she sat alone in the chair in the living room, going over the events of the past week again and again.

_

* * *

There will be no prayers on your return and there will be no party thrown. And you will find your inheritance is the silence that's grown. It is the seed that you've sown. _

Everything was unpacked and back in its original place. The no longer needed boxes were folded and piled next to the table.

He used to like this apartment. He remembered moving in when he first arrived in Sunnydale, shortly before Buffy and Joyce arrived. He'd been happy here. It was homey, big but not too big. Just right. But now he just saw it as the place he shouldn't be in anymore. He had been moving out of there and in with Joyce. And before he had even had chance to step over the threshold of 1630 Revello Drive he was unpacking all his things here.

He had called Joyce several times, despite Buffy's insistencies that she needed space. He hadn't called that many times. Just once a day, perhaps once every other day sometimes. She never picked up. He remembered she had caller I.D. He stopped called a couple of days ago when Buffy had told him under no uncertain terms that to give space means to make no calls and if he wanted Joyce to be okay he needed to stop 'pestering' and start giving her some space.

But the space was killing him. He didn't want space. Space was the exact opposite of what he wanted. Even Buffy seemed to be keeping her distance recently. She seemed awkward around him. She told him she knew he hadn't done anything wrong, but she couldn't help siding with her Mom. Which was apparently making the situation more difficult for Buffy than it already was. So the others had taken their cue from Buffy and although Willow, being the sweet girl she was, kept visiting out of what could only be viewed as pity, Giles found himself with a lot of space a lot of the time recently. And it was leaving him too much time to be alone with his thoughts.

He shouldn't have gone drinking with Ethan. He could have stopped any of it happening if he had just beaten the crap out of him like he initially intended. But Ethan had come out with the fact he had important information and as much of a little shit Ethan was his information was usually spot-on and for the most part useful. He'd also gone for the drink for old times sake. It was hard not to with how out of place he had been feeling recently. He shouldn't have trusted Ethan. When he joked about slipping something in his drink, he should have taken him seriously. Had no more. He should have stopped him even catching sight of Joyce. He should have stopped him going to her. He should…. there were so many 'he should haves' that he was loosing his head thinking about them. But one thought stayed persistently in his mind. _It's all my fault._

_

* * *

Cause you were the one sure thing, the one sure thing. _

12 November 1999

"Check you making with the effort" Buffy laughed as lay lazily on her Mom's bed while said mother finished getting ready for her date. She had come over to pick up her mail- something she hadn't done for a few weeks- to find her Mom getting ready to go out on a date with Giles. He was taking her to some French restaurant apparently. Buffy had never been big on French food- it was a little fancy with too big a fondness for frogs and snails, but her Mom loved it. Not the frog and snails part though, Buffy hoped.

"You think it's too much?" Joyce asked worryingly, turning away from the mirror to look at her daughter, lipstick held uncapped in her hand.

"No it's fine." Buffy assured her, taking in her Mom's black and white halter-neck dress. She approved of the matching sandals and made a note to steal them for a while at a later date. "Very restaurant-y" Joyce sighed a sigh of relief.

"Oh good" She turned back to the mirror and started applying the lipstick when the doorbell rang.

"I will get that," Buffy told her, heading downstairs still holding the mail in her hand as she answered the front door.

"Buffy" Giles said not without some puzzlement.

"What?" Buffy asked, "Not the girl you were expecting to see?"

"Well, uh, no" Giles answered honestly, stepping inside to see Joyce walking down the stairs. He smiled widely and she smiled back. Buffy rolled her eyes.

"In fear of being infected with cute vibes I'm outta here," Buffy told them as she headed out the door, "Have a nice time" She called back

* * *

"You certainly know how to pick a restaurant," Joyce told him with they arrived at Le Jardin de Lys. Living up to it's name, on every table was placed one white lily while along the walls were bunches of brightly colored lilies in oranges, reds, and pinks draping down from the high walls and ceilings above. Designed to look like an elegant French restaurant to be found on some quiet street in Brittany it had wooden shutters at the open windows with silk drapes covering the panes and the waiters were dressed in every way a garcon should be. 

"I just thought it would be somewhere you would like very much," He told her as he watched her look around the entire restaurant taking in every detail. She saw placed around the edges of the restaurant, for a cultural feel she guessed, several art pieces that made her itch to look at closely. The one next to her though was a piece from a collection she admired- Les Nabis. The work was by the artist Paul Sérusier and was called Le Talisman. She adored it. Always had but had never seen it up close before. She let out an involuntary art-geek squeal. He looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Sorry," She apologized with a smile, "It's just…. just this place. Everything in it-"

"No need to apologize," he said, leaning down to kiss her just as the waiter arrived to lead them to their table. She knew she shouldn't, it was a public place after all and the waiter was obviously watching, but she had hardly seen him at all in the past week so she gave into the kiss completely. And when he went to pull away, conscious that they were stood up in the middle of a restaurant, she wrapped her arms around him letting him know that he wasn't getting away anytime soon and within seconds he gave in too as he wrapped his arms around her waist, drawing her closer, the kiss becoming more intense. The waiter cleared his throat startling the couple and they broke apart sheepishly.

"Sorry about that…." Joyce apologized but the waiter shook his head as though there were no need.

"Your table Madame, monsieur," The waiter indicated in a direction to their right and Joyce and Giles looked at each with a smile before taking each other's hand and following the waiter to their table.

* * *

_

* * *

Maybe I'm not crazy, just inconsolable. Inconsolable._

"…So we'll need the documents regarding the Medallion pithoi"

"Hmm?" Joyce looked up, barely registering that Carole was talking to her and suddenly she remembered she was sat in the gallery and not sat at home. She shook her head, "I'm sorry what?"

"Documents." Carole repeated, "For the Medallion pithoi. Where are they?"

"Oh erm…there," Joyce pointed to a drawer not too far away from them and Carole headed over to it. Opening the drawer and pulling out the papers, she threw a concerned look Joyce's way.

"What's up hon?" Carole was fond of the term 'hon' when she was getting ready to psychoanalyse her friends.

"There's no up" Joyce replied half-heartedly realizing that her sentences weren't even really making sense, as she went to drift back into her thoughts.

"You've been out of it all day. All week actually," Carole stated, "There is definitely something up" She went and sat next to her, "Maybe it would help if you talked about it, talked it through."

Joyce shook her head.

"No, it's nothing, really" She got up and headed into the backroom, closing the door behind her and not even looking back at a concerned Carole.

Carole watched her go and was unconvinced by her friend's claims of 'nothing'. She got up and followed her to the back room. She had barely opened the door when she heard the crying. Pushing the door open completely she saw Joyce there crying her eyes out. So much for 'nothing'.

"This must be a pretty big nothing," Carole joked as she hugged Joyce comfortingly and she laughed slightly through the tears. She didn't stop crying though, "Perhaps you should go home for a bit, huh?" Carole suggested kindly.

"No I-" Joyce tried to argue but Carole was having none of it.

"No, you need to be at home. You're in no fit state to be working," Carole said to her, "Go spend some time with Buffy. That'd be nice wouldn't it?"

Joyce nodded slightly but Carole was sure she wasn't listening.

* * *

_

* * *

There is no mystery to be revealed and so we tell the truth and then run_

"I know, it's complicated," Buffy agreed as she and her Mom talked in the living room together about well, _everything._ Her Mom had told her about what had happened with Ethan and Buffy had listened with a sympathetic ear and began to understand more and more why her Mother felt she couldn't see Giles quite yet.

"Yes it is" Joyce stated, seemingly staring at nothing for a moment before she looked directly at Buffy, "Tell me everything"

"What?" Buffy didn't understand.

"About Rupert. His past. About Ethan. Everything,"

"Oh," Buffy said in comprehension, "Well, I don't know it all…"

"Tell me what you do know," Joyce insisted, "Please. I need to know"

Buffy still wasn't sure. She was worried that telling her Mom the things she knew would just make an already bad situation worse.

"Are you sure? I mean…" Buffy winced as she thought about what she was about to say, "Some people _died_ because of Giles…and Ethan…do you really want me to tell you?"

Joyce did think about it for a moment, from the small slice of information Buffy had just given away she knew what she would be told would be bad, very bad. But she needed to know. She couldn't run away from it. She had to face it all if moving on of any sort was to happen.

"Yes"

_

* * *

I love you because I love you and I did think that you were the one_

April 14th 1997

Giles had gotten the phone call from Buffy just under fifteen minutes ago. It had been about Angel- he had attacked Buffy's mother. As Giles hurried down the corridor looking for the right room he worried about Buffy's exposure as the Slayer. After all, Mrs Summers didn't know about Buffy's secret identity as the Watcher's Council's protocol stated- it was to stay that way. Finally he found the room and walked in.

"I guess I slipped and cut my neck on…. the doctor said it looked like a barbecue fork" Joyce looked at Buffy in confusion, "We don't _have_ a barbecue fork,"

Giles watched the woman in front of him as logic and denial seemed to wage a war in her mind. He didn't know what he expected for when he first met Buffy's mother, formalities and introductions mainly, but in fact the moment he laid eyes on her he was blown away. It was quite shocking really. He had never been one for letting emotions overcome him but as he looked at Joyce Summers for the first time strong, unknown feelings rushed through him uncontrollably and for the first time in his life he found himself wondering at how stupid the Council's rule was about watcher's having relationships with family of the slayer. He was surprised that this was where his thoughts turned to. Was he considering having a relationship with this woman? He wanted to, he knew that, but he hadn't spoken one word to her. But he knew he couldn't take his eyes away.

"Are you another doctor?" She was talking to him and he found himself actually at a loss for words. So lost in his thoughts, he suddenly became a little too nervous to actually reply for himself, but luckily Buffy filled in for him.

"Oh, um no Mom, this is Mr Giles,"

"Oh- the librarian from your school," Joyce nodded in recognition before frowning at Buffy in something that was a cross between nerves and confusion, "What's he doing here?"

Her attitude to the entire situation made him smile.

"Uh, I-I just came to pay my respects," He was amazed he was able to actually form words finally, "wish you a speedy recovery,"

January 12th 1998

Joyce pushed open the door to find the library empty and so quiet it was eerie.

"Buffy?" She looked around; trying to find the daughter she had strictly order to stay in the library till 5.30. "Hello?"

"Hello"

She jumped in surprise when she heard someone reply and turned to see Giles peering comically out from behind a shelf in…was that a cage? She hadn't seen Giles since…since she had been in hospital, but she had been fairly out of it then and only vaguely remembered him. But she did remember that he had stayed by her bed after Buffy had left. She smiled.

"Oh uh, Mr Giles, hi. Uh, I-I was looking for Buffy. She, she was supposed to wait for me here," God she was getting that stutter- a clear sign she was starting to get nervous. Any moment soon she suspected she'd start babbling and who knows what she might come out with. It was just he was so attractive. She thought for a split second why Buffy never mentioned this…and then realized that Buffy wouldn't have even noticed. But Joyce certainly was.

"Well sh-she hasn't been in," Giles told her, "I-I've been waiting to talk to her myself about uh, uh…history texts."

She felt herself getting warmer bordering dangerously on hot as she looked at him and she leant on a nearby card catalog to try and compose herself. She decided to focus on the fact that Buffy wasn't here.

"That is just the last straw"

"I'm sure she didn't mean to-" He was defending Buffy and despite the fact that Joyce was still mad at her, the fact that this man was clearly willing to back Buffy up and support her made Joyce find him even more attractive.

"She never means to but she always manages to anyway," Would asking him out be too daring? After all, they'd practically just met. Then he might be involved with someone. Might be married. Or have kids. "Do you have children Mr Giles?"

_

* * *

But now I see who you've become. _

Shortly after that question Joyce realized Giles had set the bezoar demon thing on her turning her essentially into a mindless zombie. Why did everything also lead back to something like that? Flowed into something evil. Why? But she had forgiven him for that, once she found out what had actually happened, after all it hadn't really been his fault. He had been under the influence of the bezoar and a person had had no control once they were. After all, Joyce had even tried to kill Buffy at the time. So Joyce had easily forgiven Giles that. She'd forgiven for other times as well just as he'd forgiven her for times such as when she'd nearly burnt Buffy at the stake. God, that was an awful memory.

So why this time when it wasn't even him could she not forgive him?

Perhaps she needed someone to blame and Ethan wasn't here for her to blame directly so it fell on Giles. Why couldn't she just hate Ethan and forgive Giles? Wouldn't that be so much simpler?

_You always hurt the ones you love the most._ That saying applied to both of them right now. Was this payback what she was doing? She didn't think so, but maybe she did see it as some score to be evened. Put him through a fifth of what she had been through herself. She couldn't think like that though.

What it boiled down to she realized, was it had been too much too soon- she wasn't ready to accept that part of him.

Or was she?

_

* * *

Cause you were the one sure thing, the one sure thing. _

November 10th 1998

She couldn't believe what the two of them had just done on the hood of the police car. And they'd done it twice! The thought of knowing they could have been caught only added to the thrill. She giggled as she thought back to it, it had only be a minute or so ago, but she wanted to go at it again. In the middle of the street, on a car, in a room, against a wall, anywhere. She wanted to use this feeling of being fully alive to it's full potential.

The moment they had got off the car, Ripper had grabbed her hand and had her running down the street away from the scene.

"What are you doing?" She said, laughing as she pulled back a bit.

"Don't wanna be around there when that copper wakes up," Ripper replied, tugging at her hand harshly so she was forced to carry on walking along with him.

"'Fraid of getting caught huh?" She asked with a sly smile and Ripper shook his head.

"No, just don't fancy a pervy old git watching us"

"Well there's no one around…" Joyce grinned, "And I still have those cuffs on me" For a man who claimed he wanted her as much as she wanted him, he didn't seem too keen right now as he looked around where they were stood and looked down at her in annoyance.

"Not now," he told her, "I thought we were getting more chocolate," And he tugged her hand again and this time it hurt. She pulled away.

"God, what is your problem?" Joyce scoffed, "Attitude much?"

"Oh for God's sake," Ripper rolled his eyes impatiently as he walked back over to her realizing she was getting 'girly' on him. Why was he even bothering with her anyway? He was more of a get some get gone type of guy. But he was playing the boyfriend. More fool him apparently, "Just come on"

Joyce apparently seemed very unimpressed with his command as she stepped off to the right of him to head down another street.

"Whatever" she told him, heading off, "Like I don't have better things to be doing than dealing with your lame issues"

He didn't let her get far as he grabbed hold of her tightly. When she turned round to face him she saw the familiar look on his face and smiled. That was more like it. She dimly registered the chocolate bars being thrown down around them, but saw it as unimportant as he put his arms around her. His grip on her arms was so tight it bordered on uncomfortable and she squirmed a little, but she stopped the moment his lips were on hers. The kiss was letting her know he was the one in charge as he had been moments ago on the car and just to see what would happen she tried to fight against the kiss and he bit her lip silently telling her not to try that again. She gave herself to the kiss fully as she wrapped her arm around him, running her finger through his hair. She arched into him, reaching up slightly on her tiptoes wanting to take in every bit of the passion that he was giving to her through the kiss.

"Mom? Giles?"

Joyce ignored the annoying voice in her ear as she continued to snog Ripper.

"Go away. We're busy," He said through the kiss and Joyce made the kiss more intense, encouraging him _not_ to talk again. He responded, boy did he respond.

"Mom!" Suddenly she felt a tug on her arm and she was dragged away from Ripper by her daughter.

"Hey!" She exclaimed in complaint. What the hell did Buffy think she was doing? She wouldn't have liked it if she'd ever pulled her away from Angel, would she?

* * *

Willow heard a loud banging sound that reverberated through the phone painfully into her ear and she assumed Buffy had had to fight someone or some_thing_. She put the phone back to her ear. 

"Hello?"

"Hi" A different voice from Buffy's replied and Willow could hear the person chewing gum loudly. She heard a bubble pop, "Is that Willow?"

"Erm…yeah…" Willow replied nervously. Whoever it was on the other end of the phone knew her name.

"Cool. Yeah, Buffy's just like totally wailing on this guy or something. She's always about the slaying- like whatever."

Suddenly Willow recognized the voice in shock.

"Mrs Summers?!" She knew for sure that the candy had affected Buffy's Mom, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine" Joyce automatically replied, "Oh my god he is just so hot."

"What? Who?" Curiosity won over shock and confusion.

"Ripper. He just like pulled a gun on this guy. It was _so_ cool."

"Ripp-" Willow knew the name, "Giles?!"

"Whatever," Joyce dismissed the second name, "Either way it is wicked cool. I mean we're going steady and everything- how neat is that?" Willow went to reply but Joyce carried on talking, "Even though rat boy like so wants it not to be. It is so gross the way he keeps looking at me. It's like hello? Dream on. Like I'd even think of even _looking _at him. I mean Ripper's this hot, daring British guy and Snyder's well…hello? _Not_"

Willow did not want to hear anymore.

"Can you put Buffy back on please? I need to talk to her"

"God, everyone _always_ wants to talk to Buffy. It's like Buffy slay this, Buffy slay that."

"Mrs Summers," Willow said sternly and she heard the woman sigh.

"Fine. Whatever." Her voice went quieter as she called away from the phone, "Buffy. It's uh, Willow. She wants you real bad"

"Hello?" Willow sighed with relief when she heard Buffy's voice.

"Oh thank god it's you again. Your Mom just sounds really weird…. and she keeps talking about Giles"

"Uh-huh," Buffy said, clearly showing she didn't want to talk about it and Willow completely understood.

"Okay, so Oz just found it"

* * *

The babies were safely returned and they were stood outside the hospital waiting for Buffy who was trying to get the nurse to pay attention to the children she hadn't even noticed were gone. 

Joyce looked at the soaked white top Ripper was wearing.

"You're soaked," She commented.

"State the obvious" Ripper replied.

"For what it's worth…I think it's really cool what you did. Really brave" Joyce looked down for a moment, afraid to catch his eye. She was getting nervous around him again.

"Just doing what I had to," Ripper boasted, knowing it would impress Joyce.

"And a job well done deserves an award," She teased and he grinned, grabbing her around the waist again and pulling her towards him. She felt the wetness of his t-shirt through her clothes, but she didn't care as the two kissed passionately. As the kiss deepened and she submitted to it entirely he lifted her up, closer to him, so she was stood completely on her tip-toes, and she gave more into the kiss, putting her arms around him tightly.

Then the kiss became warmer, more loving and she felt more tenderness there than there had been previously. She enjoyed it as his arms wrapped around her caringly rather than possessively and her grip on him loosened as well, but she didn't drop her arms from around his neck.

And then she realized who she was kissing. And he seemed to realize who he was kissing. And the kissing stopped abruptly. They stepped apart slightly looking at each other in shock for a moment before looking down at the clothes and becoming even more embarrassed. Giles ran his fingers through his hair nervously and Joyce tugged down her skirt self-consciously with her right hand just as Buffy came out of the hospital.

Buffy watched them both suspiciously. The two were stood further apart from one another than they had been previously and she noticed her Mom now looked very awkward in her outfit. If it wasn't for the fact the two were still holding hands Buffy would have said the chocolate had worn off completely. But apparently it was getting there.

* * *

_

* * *

Maybe I'm not crazy, just inconsolable. Inconsolable._

When Giles opened his door to find Xander and Anya on his doorstep he was disappointed. He had hoped it would have been Joyce. But still these two were a welcome distraction.

"We come bearing gifts," Xander held up a few boxes which apparently contained nutrition bars. Giles stepped aside to let them in. They all took a seat and Xander started to rant about the Boost Bars Giles tuned out of the conversation as his thought drifted back to Joyce. It had been almost a week now. If not more. He wasn't sure anymore. It sounded terrible, but he had lost track of days. He just wanted to wallow in his misery, but he was the adult and all the teenagers expected him to keep it together. He had to. It's what adults did. And as he had heard Buffy say many times throughout the years he had know her; 'it sucked'.

He just wanted to see her again. Just for a minute. Or to talk to her, for her to answer one of his phone calls. He couldn't carry on like this for much longer, he couldn't.

"Check these flavours!" Xander said encouragingly, realizing he was loosing Giles' attention, "Cherry-berry! Maple Walnut! Almond…" Xander trailed off as Giles suddenly started crying. It, if he was honestly, really freaked Xander out. He had never seen Giles cry before. Not that he could recall anyway. And it unnerved him. Giles was always the strong, in control, on top of things, British Guy. But the man in front of him now was totally weak, seriously lacking in control and looked as though everything had just come crashing down around him. Human. Xander felt really bad for Giles, but truly didn't know what to do.

Anya reached over and patted Giles on the shoulder almost robotically in comfort as she had seen on televised soap operas.


	13. Goodbye Iowa

g120- I'm glad you liked the flashback things- twas a moment of inspiration when I got that idea. I really liked writing them as well-partic the Band Candy one. hehe. And I know there was practically no episode in that chapter was there? haha. I've been trying to do that more and more-you know so there's more focus on the relationship. But this one is a bit episode orientated but I think it's nessecary. Anyway, hope you like it and thanks for the review.

Zigpal-flashbacks seemed to be a hit don't they? hehe. And I'll admit I was iffy about the crying Giles scene, because it seemed quite out of character for him, but then I ended up just going 'nyeh keep it in'. and don't threaten me with lack of claps! **.::shocked face::.** haha. So, thanks for the review and hope you like this chapter. Gotta get to work on This Year's Girl now. Eep- I think I'm going to be one very confused girl writing that. haha

* * *

"What could have happened to make Professor Walsh want to kill you?" Giles asked Buffy after she had updated everyone on recent events.

"I don't know," Buffy, replied, "Uh, she wasn't keen on the fact that I was asking lots of questions that's for sure"

"So you were getting close to something," Anya surmised.

"Clearly," Giles agreed, "Although one can only imagine what she'd be so desperate to hide"

"Who's hiding?" An inquisitive voice asked

"Joyce" Giles said seeing her stood in the doorway and she smiled nervously.

"Hi"

"What-uh, why-you, uh…" the rest watched silently while Giles stumbled over his words.

"I, uh, I thought we needed to…well…talk," Joyce answered without really being asked. She took a look around at the crowded apartment, "But I can see its kind of a party here…" her eyes landed on the vampire, "one that Spike is apparently invited to..."

"You and me are _both_ wondering the whys love" Spike told her.

"We'll erm go!" Willow suggested a little too enthusiastically.

"Yeah, we'll leave the room" Xander added, "And you guys can do the talking thing"

"And we will _not_ be listening in at the door" Buffy assured them unconvincingly.

"I will" Anya contradicted.

Just as it seemed this plan would be workable and appropriate Riley burst in through the front door and Joyce realized that she and Giles weren't going to get to talk alone any time soon.

"It doesn't matter," She told him, "I'll just go and-"

"Buffy are you okay?" Riley asked urgently over the tense moment and Joyce stopped leaving as Riley's words drew her back in.

"Why would she not be okay?" She asked and then looked around at everyone, considering for the first time why everyone was there in the first place, "What's going on?"

"I'll explain later Mom, first we gotta move," Buffy paused to look at Riley, "Wait you know?"

"I know something went down. Tell me" He replied

"Tell me too. What something went down? Buffy_, what_ is going _on_?" Joyce sounded exasperated.

"Maggie tried to kill me," Buffy told them both.

"What?" Joyce ran towards her daughter, "Oh my god, what? How?"

"It didn't work," Anya assured her as though the woman hadn't already realized, "But they're all upset about it anyway"

"Okay I need you to go over everything step by step," Riley instructed Buffy, "There has to be…has to be some kind of mistake"

"There was no mistake" Xander looked at Riley suspiciously, "And how do you know something happened?"

"I was on a mission when I came back and I'm not sure, let's just not jump to any con-" Riley stopped talking when he laid his eyes on Spike.

"What?" Buffy asked.

"That's hostile 17" Riley stated.

"No I'm just a friend of Xanderrr's," Spike faked a drawl that caused Joyce to let out a surprised laugh. She covered her mouth immediately afraid she'd laugh again. "Bugger it" Spike said realizing if he hadn't, Joyce had given the game away anyway, "I'm your guy"

"That's Spike," Buffy said as though that would explain everything, "It's a really long story but he's not bad anymore"

"Hey!" Spike jumped up offended, "What am I? A bleeding broken record? I'm bad okay? It's just I can't bite anymore. Thanks to you wankers."

"We've been looking all over the place for him," Riley said, "But you've known where-"

"Okay!" Joyce interrupted getting impatient, "Can we get back to the whole some psychology professor just tried to kill my daughter thing?"

"We think that perhaps Buffy was getting too inquisitive," Giles explained softly and for the first time since she walked in the door she actually looked at him directly, "That she was getting too close to something that Professor Walsh was trying to hide"

"And so she tried to kill her?" Joyce asked slowly.

"She sent me on a one-way mission." Buffy explained, "Claimed it was recon."

"Maybe she was trying to test you," Riley suggested, visibly clutching at straws, "Maybe it was a drill."

"Then why did she tell you I was dead?" Buffy countered, "Riley, it wasn't a test."

"Oh I've had enough of this" Spike scoffed, "You kids are more whiny than two families on a Jerry Springer show. I'm off" He looked at Riley for a moment, "By the by, if you're trying to kill her," He leant back with a huge grin holding two thumbs up before running out into the sunlight, covering himself with his leather coat protectively.

"See" Giles carried on, completely ignoring Spike's departure as he talked directly to Riley, "I've heard rumors that the Initiative isn't all we've been told. That secretly they're working towards some darker purpose, something that might harm us all"

"No!" Riley denied, "That's not what happens there!"

"Since I am coming into this a little late in the day feel free to correct me if I'm wrong," Joyce told them all, but specifically Riley, "But doesn't all the evidence so far point to the fact that that _is_ what happens there?"

"No! I would know!" Riley argued, his temper evidently rising.

"No one is sure of anything okay," Buffy tried to calm him down, "We're just trying to sort things out"

"I can't be here" he said, "I have to sort things out on my own"

"Riley" Buffy called but he had already left.

"He'll be alright honey," Joyce assured her daughter, giving her a hug, "He'll, he'll come around" Buffy nodded.

"I know, but for now we gotta move. It's not safe for any of us"

"What? Why?" Joyce asked as she watched Buffy move into action as she issued everyone orders.

"Everybody grab a weapon. We need to relocate to a place we're less likely to be found."

"Well why would they come looking for you here?"

"Well Riley knew I was here so we can assume the rest of the Initiative know about this place to," Buffy told her Mom before turning to look at Xander, "Could we stay at yours? I mean the initiative haven't seen us together much"

"Ooh plus mirrored ball" Willow nodded encouragingly as Xander said it would be fine for them all to stay at his place for a while.

"Great let's going then," Buffy told them all grabbing her Mother's hand while everyone else grabbed what little stuff they had with them.

"But wait? What? Where? Huh?"

"You've gotta come with too Mom," Buffy explained, "The Initiative could use you against me or whatever…either way it's not safe. You're coming with and staying at Xander's."

"But I don't have any spare clothes," Joyce complained practically as she was shoved out the door by her slayer-strong daughter.

"We'll be picking them all up on the way" Buffy assured her and Joyce realized it would be a very long while before she and Giles would get to talk.

* * *

It was almost morning and Giles had barely slept a wink. This was mainly to do with the fact he had been in a plastic chair all night at Xander's. Although both Buffy and Xander had claimed the basement would have enough room for all of them it was still a tight squeeze. The room had been divided originally into two- one side for the girls, the other for the boys. However there hadn't been enough room for all four women in one area so the entire basement had eventually been divided into three with awkwardly enough, himself and Joyce sharing a 'room' on their own. It had seemed the only sensible answer and so maturely, the two of them had not complained. Not that he _would_ have complained, but he would have understood if Joyce had had objections. She was sleeping in plastic furniture just like he was. Though she seemed to have less of a problem with it, as she was actually asleep. However, she had slept on it sidewards instead of attempting to sleep on it like a chair as he had. As she had fallen into a deeper sleep throughout the night she had edged along until she comfortably lay on him. He smiled, enjoying the moment, but viewed it in a melancholy fashion as he knew the moment she woke up she would move away and he wished they were back the way they were when she wouldn't move away at all and would happily stay lay with him all day if she could. 

A streak of sunlight reflected off the mirror ball above them and reflected a blinding light onto both Giles and Joyce and Joyce blinked awake. She seemed disorientated for a moment, seeming to forget where she was temporarily before the memories came back to her. She looked around and saw where she was lay and who she was lay on. She looked at him nervously before jumping up out of her seat and looked around for where she had placed her nightgown. Finding it she quickly tied it around herself before heading into the room where the others girls were watching cartoons.

"That would never happen" Buffy said sleepily.

"No Buff, that's why they call them cartoons and not documentaries" Willow teased.

"You used to watch this all the time when you were little Buffy," Joyce commented nostalgically as Giles walked into the 'room' looking very groggy.

"Must we have that noise," He complained, "My head is splitting."

"Look who's a cranky bear in the morning," Willow commented, a smile tugging at her lips.

"He's not usually," Joyce informed her, "Normally, as soon as he wakes up he…" she trailed off realizing she was walking into awkward territory.

"My, uh, bad mood, ahem" Giles cleared his throat, "may have something to do with the fact I slept in what could double as a beach ball"

"I slept fine," Joyce pointed out automatically.

"That's only because…. you slept on me…" he voice became quieter a he said the last bit and everyone became quiet again.

"You know every time you moved on that seat you made squeaky noises," Anya commented, oblivious to the atmosphere in the room, "it was irritating"

"Really?" Giles asked, "Well I'm surprised you could hear it over your Wagnerian snoring"

"Okay you guys, could we not please?" Buffy interrupted them, "Everything's screwed up enough without you two doing scenes from my parent's marriage" Buffy then realized that one of said parents was stood next to her. Joyce was giving her a look that said 'we were like that?' and Buffy just shrugged in resignation. "You and Dad always bickered. Even back when you were getting along"

Joyce looked over at Giles. The two had bantered, teased each other but they had never bickered or insulted each other. She had never realized that before now. She looked back at her daughter and saw the look of sad contemplation on her face and knew instantly whom she was thinking about.

"Riley will be okay you know" She assured her, "He's just a little all over the place right now"

"Yeah," Willow agreed, "He'll come around"

"I don't know," Buffy was unconvinced, "It just seems like things could get heavier. His whole world's falling apart"

"And after everything you've been through with Angel," Anya made her first attempt at sympathy, "You really should get yourself a boring boyfriend. Like Xander…you can't have Xander"

"That was the idea," Buffy admitted, "Riley was supposed to be Mr Joe Guy. We were going to dumb things like hold hands through the daisies and go tra-la-la!"

Joyce looked over at Giles and saw he was looking over at her too. Sure he wasn't Joe Normal like Buffy had wanted with Riley, but he was the man she had intended to 'tra-la-la' with. Still could.

"So dump him," Anya was saying, "But you can't have Xander"

"I'll try and remember that," Buffy told her with a confused expression, "It's too late anyway. I'm already at the I hurt when he hurts, I smile when he smiles stage"

While Buffy said this Giles and Joyce looked at each other from across opposites sides of the room again. They were already at the stage themselves. So was Buffy right? Was it too late? But too late for what?

He walked over to her while the others continued to chat.

"You said yesterday that you wanted to talk," he said to her and she nodded, looking down at the floor for a moment before looking at him.

"Yes, but I really-" Xander came running in carrying a breakfast tray, "don't think this is the time, do you?"

"Turn on the TV. Now!" Xander ordered.

Giles shook his head.

"No it isn't"

* * *

"What do you think Buffy and Xander will find?" Joyce asked in the complete silence. Buffy and Xander were infiltrating the initiative and Willow was away casting some spell to help them and Anya was pacing in the next room. Joyce and Giles were seeing to Riley while Buffy was gone. He didn't seem to be getting any better. 

"I'm not sure" Giles told her honestly, "Perhaps everything-Riley, the Polgara, Professor Walsh's death- will be linked to this three-fourteen. But truly, I'm not at all sure what they'll find"

"He's not getting any better is he?" Joyce asked as she looked at Riley, but it wasn't really a question.

"No," There was a moment of silence, "Joyce, I-"

"Wicca girl returns batting zero" Willow voice broke the moment and the two jumped up and stepped to the other side of the curtain to see Willow stood there with Anya. "It totally failed. It wasn't even like the spell went wrong. It just wouldn't"

"If it's any consolation we haven't fared much better here," Giles told her and Willow winced.

"Is Riley okay?"

"Fitful sleep" Joyce replied, "But not good. I think he needs to get to a hospital"

"But this might be Initiative related so it's not like we can take him to Sunnydale General" Willow pointed out and Joyce nodded in agreement. Willow decided to change the topic of conversation slightly. There was no point focusing on the things they at the moment could do nothing about, "How's the Polgara research going?"

"Well, uh, it's not" Giles replied, "This demon we're after seems highly atypical of a Polgara. The child that was killed was uh, mutilated."

Joyce whimpered slightly at the thought- she had gone extremely quiet when she first heard the news about the child and reacted badly to any reference of it. Giles wanted to hold her to comfort her but knew they weren't exactly in 'that place' now and so he opted for simply standing beside her- a distant comfort- and found she didn't move away.

"Also the Polgara have to eat every two hours," Anya informed them all casually, "Factor in the low IQ and you have a demon who's not exactly low profile"

"So shouldn't we have been able to find him by now?" Joyce asked.

"Yeah, I mean how's he been hiding out in Sunnydale for the last two days without like _anyone_ finding him?" Willow was flummoxed. She shook her head in confusion before walking over and pulling the curtain back that was behind Giles and Joyce, to check on Riley and found Riley stood on the other side, "Riley!"

"Where's Buffy?" Riley looked extremely agitated and it made everyone around him nervous.

"Sh-she went out," Willow stuttered wary that Riley could be dangerous right now, "Can-Can I get you something?"

"Just tell me where she is," Riley ordered and started to get dressed.

"She'll be back in a bit Riley," Joyce assured him, "But I really don't think you should be going out right now. You're not well…and there's that demon loose. Anything could happen. Buffy wouldn't want you to go," She added as a last resort.

"Just tell me where she is," Riley repeated standing up and rubbing his arms as if he were cold, "Did she find the Polgara?"

"No exactly, but-" Giles began.

"But what?" Riley was becoming more agitated with each passing second.

"She went out to find what's making you sick," Willow told him nervously.

"I'm not sick!" Everyone jumped back a little at the sudden outburst, "Are you telling me she went to the Initiative?"

"She's just trying to help you" Willow assured him as Riley started to cross the room and she and Joyce automatically ran over to the stairs to block his way.

"She doesn't belong there," He stated angrily walking over to where Willow and Joyce were stood.

"Riley, please, just calm down and think things through for a moment," Joyce pleaded with him, but he wasn't listening.

"Stand away from the stairs," He ordered.

"No Riley," Willow argued sounding braver than she felt, "You're gonna get Buffy killed"

Beyond reason and logic now Riley shoved both of the women harshly aside. Giles ran over and caught Joyce fully before she fell to the floor and in a cliché fashion she landed completely in his arms, her hands rested on his shoulders in reflex. Seemingly frozen, the two just continued to look at each other closely. Joyce smiled a small smile that Giles immediately returned.

"I need one of those," Willow commented from the floor where Anya was helping her and Joyce and Giles were pulled out of their daze as they looked over to the two girls, but through an act of subconscious didn't let go of each other. As Willow stood up with Anya's help, she looked at the couple pointedly and the two seemed to realize that they still had a hold on one another.

"I think you can let go now," Joyce looked down at his arms around her waist before looking back up at him, "equilibrium has returned and everything"

"Uh, of course," He said, pulling his arms away immediately.

* * *

"He's just so alone. And how can I trust a military hospital?" Buffy said to her Mom as the two sat on the sofa a couple of days later. "I mean the Initiative haven't exactly been real big on the hospitality" 

"No…" Joyce admitted, "not to you anyway. But Riley- Riley's one of them-"

"He's nothing like them," Buffy immediately argued.

"No, I know. I didn't mean it like that. I mean to them, whoever Them is, considers Riley to be one of their own. They are _not_ going to hurt him. You just need to have a little faith"

"Yeah" Buffy agreed sarcastically, "A little faith in the military organization that's created the killer demonoid from hell." She shook her head, realizing that thinking too much on it was going to drive her mad, "I need to talk about something else. For a bit anyway." She looked directly at her Mom, "So how about you and Giles?"

Joyce laughed at her daughter's bluntness. Maybe she was spending too much time with Anya.

"Well, he stopped me from getting knocked out…or hurt again," Joyce reasoned thinking back to him catching her as Riley had pushed her and Willow aside, "Which kinda makes me wanna forgive him and move on…"

"Then do"

* * *

He had nothing else to do so he was trying to bring together all the information they had on the Initiative. And Giles found that the information they had was…very little. He heard a knock at the front door and looked up to see it already open but Joyce was knocking on it anyway. 

"Can I come in?" She asked and he jumped up out of his seat.

"Of course," he told her and she stepped inside closing the door behind her.

They stood there for a moment, awkward, opposite each other and a fair distance apart.

"So Riley and Buffy are okay now," Joyce, commented, "She's just worried about him in the hospital"

"Uh, yes," Giles agreed, "Well the Initiative aren't ah, easy people to trust"

"Well every now and then people surprise you," Joyce reasoned, "Look, Rupert," She began, stepping over to him, "There are a lot of things we should probably talk through and discuss and work through and many other throughs,"

"Yes, you're, ah, probably right," Giles agreed but Joyce wasn't finished talking.

"But I was never one for step-by-steps." She told him, "I always had a habit of reading an introduction and skipping to the final stage." He looked at her in silence and she took a deep breath as she got ready to say what she was about to say, "I got a good hard look at your past in recent weeks, well at least part of it, and it, as you know, did kind of…well _affect_ me. But I know that I can accept it- the past that is- and, well, and the dark and all the danger that goes with it." She took another deep breath, "because its all that-the dark parts included, that make you who you are today. Without it, you wouldn't be, well, _you_ and so you wouldn't be…you wouldn't be the person that I love. You'd be someone else…and that's not who I want. What I want is…you." He was still looking at her in stunned silence, "Sorry," She apologized, "You know what I'm like. I babble when I'm nervous"

Giles couldn't believe what he was hearing. She was forgiving him? She wanted to get back together. She did didn't she? He realized he'd tuned out in a moment of blissful shock at some point. He walked over to her closing what little distance she had left between them when she had stepped over to him before.

"Are you sure?" He asked, not believing he was _actually_ asking this question. Couldn't he just accept what she'd said and move on with it? "Are you sure this is what you want?"

She didn't answer him, but merely looked around the apartment, at all the items back in their place and at the pile of folded-up empty cardboard boxes in the corner.

"It's a shame you unpacked all the boxes," She commented, "It's going to be a long job packing them up again." She turned back to look at him and laughed lightly at the smile on his face as she wrapped her arms around his neck and he then slipped his hands around her waist. It felt natural. As though they'd never actually been apart. He two touched noses slightly as they went to kiss each other and then his lips finally pressed against hers.


	14. This Year's Girl

Rabidreject- thanks for the review and I hope you got my reply.

zigpal- cheers for regular reviewation. and :O! you almost forgot the claps! durndurdurn. hehe.

g120- I actually do have time to do other stuff. amazingly. haha. Yeah, I have so much other stuff to do that this is basically my escapage hence the fast updating (i need to escape a lot! haha). Plus it compliments my english language course- so call it an upside. hehe. thank you re the whole well-written and scooby-interaction comment. And about the whole official stepdad thing- well, all good things come to those who wait. ;-). teehee. thanks for the review.

* * *

Okay, so this one was a little more episode orientated than I would have liked, but I kinda needed it to be to set up for the next chapter Who Are You (which I'll tell you now is getting very confusing to write) as I practically re-write that episode I think. At least, it seems to be leaning toward that way. haha. So read, enjoy, review and tell me what you think about the little twist. ;-)...

* * *

"So here it is," Xander commented as he put the blaster on the workbench in his basement, "The latest in state-of-the-art combat technology. I gotta say it doesn't look that complicated" 

Giles and Joyce sat together on the one small sofa that was in the room while the others all talked about the blaster. They were sat incredibly close together and were still holding each other's hands as they had been doing since they arrived. Since they had gotten through the recent bad patch in their relationship, the two hadn't kept their hands off one another and constantly sat or stood as close together as possible as though afraid something was going to pull them apart again.

"Press some buttons, see what happens," Giles heard Willow suggest and he looked over at them all in panic.

"Uh, I'd like to veto that"

"Second" Xander agreed, "It's a blaster Will, a word that tends to discourage experimentation"

Buffy noticed her Mom and Giles had stopped paying attention again. Blaster crisis averted the two were focused only on each other. As they had been constantly the past week, Buffy realized. She found it sweet, but looking at them only made her worry about Riley more. She didn't know how he was or even where he was really. She turned to Xander.

"Just tell me, can you repair it or not?"

"I'm working on it, I'm working on it," He assured her and as he started mumbling to himself while tampering with the blaster Buffy went to sit down on the small sofa her Mom and Giles were sharing. As close as they were sat together there was room for another person.

"Honey, you look exhausted," Joyce commented, pushing her daughter's hair back and saw the dark circles under Buffy's eyes from a mixture exhaustion and worry.

"I'm fine," Buffy lied.

"You're not fine," Joyce argued, "You've been patrolling non-stop- it's not healthy"

"And neither is letting Adam wander the streets" Buffy countered.

"Either way Buffy, with all the time and effort you've been putting in," Giles suggested, "Perhaps you could use some-"

"Rest?" Buffy filled in with a helpless look in her eyes, "There's a demonoid killing machine out there Giles, it doesn't just work the night shift"

"I was going to say back-up," Giles told her, "but now you mention it building up your strength wouldn't be a bad idea,"

"Just get the blaster working," Buffy replied, "That's all the strength I need."

* * *

"Well that's all the stuff in the van," Xander announced walking back into Giles' now empty apartment, "You should just pray the lorry lending is kosher. My uncle isn't the most law-abiding of relatives" 

"I'm going to employ a don't ask, don't tell policy," Joyce said after a moment of stunned silence in response to the information.

"Perhaps we should just hurry with the driving of items?" Giles suggested worriedly.

"Hey," Joyce said to him, "We could have had a normal moving van, but you said 'noooo'."

"With all the demonology texts in those boxes and priceless and powerful items I should think not"

Joyce nodded in acceptance, before pausing as she took in the phrase 'all the demonology texts'.

"Wait- How many 'texts' are we talking here?"

Before Giles could answer, Anya wandered back in from the kitchen looking at the apartment with approval.

"Large kitchen, all cooking facilities included, good lighting fixtures, plenty plug sockets," She commented sounding like an estate agent. She looked directly at Giles, "He'll take it"

"Who will?" the other three all asked in synchronized confusion.

"Xander," She answered.

"I think I speak for us all here," Xander said, "When I say 'what are you talking about'?"

"I'm fed up of the basement Xander," Anya whined, "It's cramped and you can always hear your parents yelling. Plus, it smells funny"

"All strong points," Xander admitted, "But it still doesn't explain why you're going all Sunnydale Estates on us" A look of realization appeared on his face, "Oh wait"

" I've seen what Giles paid when he was living here and it isn't rented, so it is possible, as long as you carry on under the same payment contract as Giles and constantly keep in some form of employment, for you to afford it," She turned away from Xander and back to Giles, "He'll take it" She repeated eagerly.

"When did you find out what I pay on this place?" Giles asked in reply, "Wait, _how_ did you find out?"

"Oh I looked through your documents when you were _first_ moving out," Anya said in a dismissive tone that suggested the hows and wherefores were unimportant, "You just left them on the side," she informed him, "Anyone could have read them"

"Like you?" Joyce asked and Anya nodded.

"Exactly, I can assume through mutual interest we now have some form of verbal contract regarding this apartment?"

Everyone just silently at Anya, completely dumbstruck. Joyce looked up at Giles.

"Well, it does kinda make sense…" She reasoned, "I mean it's not like you're going to be here anymore and Xander _is_ living in a basement which just isn't appropriate for a boy of his age. He needs his own place."

Giles nodded in serious contemplation.

"And no matter how dubious Anya's methods of finding the information are, she did make some very strong points" He agreed, "And having stayed there I can honestly agree that the basement is no place he…well, any human being really, should stay."

Joyce smiled at him as she realized he was fully agreeing with the idea. She looked over at Xander.

"So, what do you say?"

Anya edged over to Xander so she was stood right next to him.

"You say 'yes,'" She whispered in his ear.

* * *

Everyone was together at Joyce's house, which they now all realized was also Giles' house as was evidenced by the piles of his unpacked things lay around. It made sitting down a little awkward but they had eventually sorted the problem out by casually tossing the things aside so they could take a seat on the sofa, much to Giles' annoyance. With Riley's return as well the room seemed even more packed than it already was, but Buffy was apparently rooting for the seat conserving party as she happily sat on Riley's knee, clearly reluctant to let go of him for even a minute. 

The two had gone away for a while before for 'alone time' which had left the rest to discuss the recent updates on the Adam situation and now the couple had returned they were bringing the information together to find all it told them was…. that they didn't know how to stop him.

"The problem for me seems to be why Adam has stayed dormant as long as he has" Giles said to them all.

"Well Anya was saying before that-" Xander began but Buffy interrupted him.

"Where _is_ Anya? She's here for most Scooby meetings lately."

"Oh she wanted to get a head start on packing." He explained, "She's very eager"

"Packing?" Buffy asked with a frown.

"Why?" Willow asked in worry, "Where are you going?"

"No where." Xander automatically replied, "No where out of Sunnydale anyway." He realized no one but Giles and Joyce had a clue about what he was talking about. "Did I forget to say? Must have been that whole finding-a-mutilated-body-in-the-field thing before. Totally blew it right out of my mind"

"Xander's moving out of the basement," Joyce explained and some form of comprehension dawned on the two girls.

"Yeah," Xander grinned, "Giles' place is about to become Xander's digs"

There was a brief moment where they gave him a look for his terrible use of the phrase 'digs' before they smiled too.

"Wow, really? You're gonna get like that _whole_ flat to yourself?" Willow asked excitedly.

"That is _so_ much better than a basement," Buffy agreed.

"A cave is better than that basement," Riley pointed out remembering his brief tenor there. Xander frowned, about to retaliate against the remark before stopping himself.

"I'm not going to respond to that. Any insults against the hovel home are going to wash over me," He told them calmly.

"As thrilling as this event seems to be," Giles said, "I think we should be focusing on Adam"

"You're right," Buffy agreed, "Totally focused. Witness my uber-focus. You were saying something about Anya, Xander?"

"Erm, yeah, she said if he's made out of all the different demon parts they wouldn't work co-operatively unless there was like a power center making them work harmonically"

"And if he's working of an automatic power source," Riley continued with the idea, "Then being straight out of the box he's gonna need to charge up a while"

"But what's he charging up for?" Buffy asked.

"You mean besides mutilating innocent people?" Joyce questioned the fact that Adam had anything more sinister on his agenda. Buffy shook her head.

"No he's got something bigger going on. A military corporation doesn't create something without it having an ulterior motive"

"I suppose a little firepower would be a good idea right now," Riley reasoned, easily fixing the blaster so quickly that Xander looked on in amazement.

"How'd you do that? Is there an on/off button or something?"

Joyce laughed inwardly at Xander's reaction as she casually looked up at Giles. She was holding his hand and practically leaning on him, which she knew couldn't be entirely comfortable for him yet he wasn't at all complaining, but she wanted a little more now so when he looked down and caught her eye she reached up to kiss him.

* * *

Faith watched the scene carefully from outside the window, hiding just out of sight. She'd visited Giles' place first but had found it eerily empty and clearly showing he didn't live there anymore. She had wondered the whys behind that but all her questions were answered when she saw him and Buffy's Mom kissing. So not only were they openly dating now, they were roomies? Faith let out a scoff of disbelief. It was nice to know while a girl was put in a coma everyone could carry on living their lives. 

Speaking of, she moved her gaze over to Buffy who she now saw pacing as she talked to everyone. Another Scooby meeting no doubt. She watched Blondie head over to the unfamiliar guy in the chair and kiss him. Kiss him? Whatever happened to Angel? So she though she could just gut her and _then_ get another guy entirely? Well B. was clearly exhibiting no guilt so Faith started to think of payback.

* * *

"Riley's right. It's the least we can do" Xander agreed, using an incorrect pronoun on purpose. Before anyone could comment the phone rang and Joyce picked it up. After a few seconds she held it out to Buffy. 

"It's for you" Buffy looked confused but took the phone anyway and started talking to the person on the other end and she seemed to grow more concerned with every passing second.

"Who was it?" Giles asked as she walked back over to him.

"Some woman, I'm not sure who," Joyce answered, "But she just kept asking for Buffy"

"Faith's awake," Buffy, announced the moment she hung up and everyone had looks of surprise. "She beat someone up, took their clothes and walked out. No one knows where she is"

"Oh my god," Joyce said, "is the person okay?" Buffy shrugged.

"I think so, but a lot less people are going to be if we don't find Faith soon

"Well," Xander said, "I think this officially qualifies as worst-timing ever"

* * *

"I'm just saying Willow's 'solid plan B' would do a lot better as a 'solid plan A'" Joyce said as she and Giles were unpacking the last of his things. Most of it was all out of the boxes and in it's new home now but there were just two more boxes left. Giles had already opened one so Joyce headed over to the final. 

"Well, perhaps, but rehabilitation is most likely the safest way to deal with a slayer," Giles reasoned.

"Is there any safe-more books?" Joyce opened the final box and found even more texts on demonology and other slayer-related things. She shook her head in disbelief but decided not to go into it, "Is there any safe way to deal with a slayer, really?" She asked, "I tried to stop Buffy leaving the house without my consent and she threw me into the kitchen counter. And my daughter is _sane_ and well, Faith isn't. At least she's mentally unstable for sure."

"And you think Buffy beating her into some form of submission is the way to face the problem?" He asked with a slight smile.

"I think it would be a safe way to _take_ her to the re-hab portion of the program," She suggested with an enthusiastic nod and Giles started laughing. He hadn't felt this happy in a good long while.

"Laugh all you want," Joyce told him as she walked past him to put the few books left on a nearby shelf, "I'll feel safer when Faith isn't wandering the streets up to god knows what"

As she walked back past him, on impulse he grabbed her hand and pulled her back towards him for a kiss. Before they could fully get into it a knock on the door interrupted them. The two sighed in annoyance and Joyce handed him the folded-up boxes.

"You go put these in the bin," She told him, "And I will answer the door." And as he walked off into the kitchen she went in the opposite direction towards the hall and opened the front door.

"Hi Joyce," Faith smiled sweetly before delivering a punch that Joyce didn't even see coming and she fell to the floor, "Mind if I come in?" Faith closed the door behind her just as Giles, having heard the thud, came into the hall. He didn't even see Faith as his eyes first fell on Joyce on the floor. She was conscious but seemed a little, understandably, woozy. As he ran over to her, he noticed Faith.

"Faith," He stated simply.

"Hi G, sorry but," She formed a fist, "this isn't exactly a social call," and with one punch she knocked him out.

* * *

Why she had been forced to walk upstairs by Faith, Joyce didn't know, but she had been too out of it to argue. Faith's punch had caused her to become highly disorientated and she only just now fully acknowledged the fact she was sat on the bed in her own bedroom. The first thing she remembered was that Giles was on the floor in the hall unconscious and she got up to go downstairs to him, but Faith's hand on her shoulder stopped her. 

"Don't even think about it," Faith said, "He's not going anywhere" She forced Joyce to sit back up on the bed. "So you and the watcher huh?" She asked casually as she headed over to Joyce's make-up drawer and started rifling through the lipsticks. "Knew you had a thing back at that Christmas- you know where it snowed? You were keeping it all secret then though" she spotted a lipstick she liked, "Harlot. Way to go Joyce" She started to apply the red lipstick and as she started to rant about her look Joyce kept looking over at the door. He was unconscious on the hall floor. She needed to get to him, but she knew if she even tried then the likely outcome would be both of them unconscious. "Now I wanna ask you something and I want you to promise to be honest and not spare my feelings just because I could kill you, do you promise?"

"I promise"

"How do I look?" Faith ruffled her hair and struck a pose.

"Psychotic" Joyce replied, upholding her promise to be honest.

"Hmm…" Faith sulked, "I was going for sultry but hey. Bet I know what you're thinking"

"Really?" Joyce highly doubted it.

"You're thinking 'you'll never get away with this!' Warm?"

"Actually," Joyce replied, "I was thinking my daughter's going to kill you soon" Or she'd better anyway. She had no doubt that Buffy would turn up- she just hoped she had gotten over the rehabilitation idea.

"That a fact?" Faith challenged.

"More like a bet"

"Whoa. You got a pair on you Joyce- I like seeing that in a woman your age." Faith gave a nod of approval while Joyce wondered what the hell she meant by 'your age'. She made it sound like she was about sixty. "Guess you can afford to talk that way. Big, strong boyfriend to protect you and a slayer of a daughter who you're sure is gonna come crashing through that window any minute," She jumped onto the bed beside Joyce but she didn't flinch or move as she refused to give Faith any indication that her presence unnerved her. "But G's unconscious downstairs and Buffy is too busy protecting the rest of the little slayerettes to worry about dear old Mom. You know what amazes me?" Faith didn't wait for an answer, "How after your daughter nearly _killed_ me all of you managed to carry on happily with your lives as though nothing happened whereas I make a little mistake and it's off with the brit's council for me. Not even one little guilty thought for the girl stuck in a coma for the past eight months because of _your_ daughter!"

"Were you planning to slit my throat anytime soon?" Joyce asked sounding extremely bored with Faith's monologue and the crazed slayer jumped up to head over to the side where her knife lay. She picked it up and twirled it between her fingers.

"I suppose we should get to it," She said threateningly but saw that Joyce still didn't look too threatened and had more of a look of defiance in her eyes than fear, "You still don't get it do you Joyce? You're the one on the sidelines as always. We're the ones they all think about last once they've dealt with themselves and their own little self-obsessed lives! I mean you're her Mother and she just leaves you here to die!"

In a moment of perfect timing Buffy came crashing through the window and punched Faith on the jaw before she had even landed.

"Hi Mom"

"Hi honey"

As the two girls began to fight, Joyce quickly dialled 911 knowing the police were looking for Faith. After the call was quickly ended she ran downstairs- she knew Buffy could handle Faith, but Giles was still at the bottom of the stairs unaware of what was going on and could get hurt.

* * *

He opened his eyes blearily as he finally came to and registered the fact he could hear people fighting. He looked up and saw Faith throwing things across the dining room at Buffy. How long had he'd been out? He sat, rubbing his sore head when Joyce came running down the stairs. 

"Rupert, are you okay?" she asked him, concerned as she knelt beside him just as the sound of police sirens were heard outside. Faith came running past them and went to run out the door but Buffy grabbed her and threw her through the living room door. Faith immediately got up and headed over to the mantelpiece, but Buffy paused to see Giles was awake.

"Giles- you're okay" she stated happily just as Faith grabbed her and threw her into the coffee table in the living room. The table smashed and Buffy looked seriously hurt as Faith went to beat her while she was down. Both Joyce and Giles immediately got up when they saw what was happening. Joyce ran over to see if Buffy, who was still on the floor, was okay, while Giles attempted to tackle Faith. While this did stop Faith kicking the hell out of a winded Buffy, it didn't avert every problem as the two of them fell next to Joyce and Buffy, Faith's hand slapping down loudly on top of one of their hands as the sound of the metal contraption against flesh made a thwacking noise. Buffy, finally gathering her breath after being thrown into the table turned to look at Faith who was wearing an expression of pure surprise and confusion. With one punch Buffy knocked her out.

* * *

Anya was happily unpacking items that belonged to Xander in the apartment that had once been Giles'. Finally she was going to be able to have sex with Xander in a place that didn't smell like cat pea. And she would no longer have to listen to his Mom ask if they wanted any mini pizzas or fruit roll-ups. 

"What are all these Babylon 5 plates?" She asked Xander, reading the title off them.

"They are-" He turned to look at her and saw four men stood in the room.

"We're looking for Rupert Giles," One of them told him in a British accent.

* * *

"Mom are you okay?" Buffy asked. Her Mom didn't answer. "Mom?" 

"What? Oh yeah…sure…not exactly five-by-five…"

"What?" Buffy questioned the phrase immediately. Faith had used it so many times the words set her on edge.

"Oh, erm, she kept saying it. Five by Five," Her Mom told her as Buffy offered her hand to help her up.

"Oh it's a Faith thing" Buffy explained, "So don't expect it to make sense" There was a banging on the door, "Ooh the police," and Buffy went over to answer the door. Looking round, Joyce knelt down quickly and grabbed the metal contraption off Faith's hand and pocketed it before Giles or Buffy could notice.


	15. Who are you?

Abryxis- hey thanks for the review. glad you're enjoying the story so far and hope you like what I came up with for this chapter.

g120- thank you for review- happy you liked the twistage. hehe. and yes Faith is in for a strange night, but I think buffy's is stranger...

zigpal- thank you for the claperized review. hehe. and my joyce cleverer than tv joyce? hmm...interesting. hehe.

* * *

For simplicity the body, even when occupied by another person, will be referred to as the original person. E.g. Faith in Buffy's body saying 'don't wanna cut in on that seven minutes' would be phrased ' "Don't wanna cut in on that seven minutes" Buffy said."'

However when written in italics it is the inner person that is referred to. For example Faith in Buffy's body hitting Buffy in Faith's body would be _Faith punched Buffy._

Can you see how confusing this got? Haha.

A/N: a sarcastic thanks to my friend, Fin, who helped give me the idea to make this chapter even more confusing than it was going to be originally.

* * *

Stood outside the house, the group watched the police and paramedics take away the defeated Faith who was slowly starting to gain consciousness. As Buffy talked to the policeman Giles looked down at Joyce next to him. She seemed very agitated and uncomfortable, constantly looking over her hands, before dropping them to her side. He assumed she was a bit shaken up from the dealings with Faith and he hugged her tightly. 

"I'm so glad you're okay"

"Yeah, I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?" She asked with a frown, squirming against his hug until she was free. He went to kiss her lightly but she turned away immediately to talk to the police so Giles was essentially left kissing air. "What's going to happen to her?"

"We'll get her checked out," The officer replied, "if she's in a stable condition she goes to jail pending trial"

"Seriously?" Joyce asked in disbelief, "Like as in all-female detention center?"

"Most likely" The officer nodded, "I'm just glad we finally got her" Joyce started laughing as she watched Faith lifted up into the ambulance and everyone looked at her strangely.

"Sorry," She became immediately sober, "Nervous laughter. After what happened" Before they could ask any more questions she walked back into the house. Giles frowned in concern and followed her into the house.

"Are you alright?" He asked as he saw her looking round the living room and she spun around to face him when she heard his voice.

"What? Why?"

"You seem slightly…on edge?" He chose his words carefully.

"Just wired I guess." She replied and Giles frowned again at the way she was talking and acting, "Guess being held hostage does that to a girl, huh?"

"Well that's Faith out of the way," Buffy announced walking into the living room.

"Sorry she was such an inconvenience for you," Buffy brushed aside the sarcastic tone she was sure she heard in her Mother's voice.

"Right…" Buffy shook her head; "We should probably get the gang over here. Updates and everything"

Giles barely heard her as he kept his eyes on Joyce. She was acting oddly and something was out of place with her. She just didn't seem herself.

"Yeah, great" Joyce agreed dismissively, "Listen I'm gonna take a bath," she told them, heading to the stairs, "Feel all…" she shrugged, "Off with the Faith sitch…uh…situation." Not waiting for an answer she jogged up the stairs and Buffy and Giles both exchanged looks of confusion.

* * *

_Faith looked in the bathroom mirror in the Summers' home and Joyce stared back at her. Sure the bath thing had been an excuse to get away from B and Giles, but she had actually taken one and was now stood, a towel wrapped around herself as she frowned at her reflection. Well, that plan had certainly gone to hell hadn't it? She had intended to switch with Buffy- one life for another, it was only fair- and instead thanks to Giles and Joyce's intervention she'd ended up as Buffy's mother rather than Buffy. How the hell was that any use to her? Joyce Summers wasn't a slayer and she was middle-aged- not exactly someone prepped for the party life. She looked back at her pile of clothes, which were really Joyce's clothes. On top of them was the switcheroo thing the mayor had given her. She still had it, which meant it could be used again. On Buffy. Faith laughed as a plan hatched in her mind. Faith could easily book herself some plane tickets with Joyce's credit cards, use the magickal whatsit on Buffy and before miss goody two shoes could tell anyone what had happened Faith would be half way to Mexico ready to begin her life as a blonde._

_And while Joyce was stuck living down Faith's prison sentence- a big enough funny on it's own- Buffy would be stuck as her Mom and without the mayor's contraption to switch any of them back, they wouldn't be able to do anything about it. Faith began to laugh again. For now though, she had to keep up pretences, which meant getting changed and heading downstairs for the meeting of the slayerettes that would be happening soon._

_She walked over to the clothes that were piled on the side and frowned. No way was she wearing that. She grabbed the gizmo, but left the clothes behind as she headed into Joyce's bedroom. _

_A few moments later and Faith was rifling through Joyce's drawers, trying to find something bearable to wear. Come on, a woman who had Harlot lipstick must have something a little less momish to wear. _

"_Ah-ha" She murmured as her eyes caught sight of a little red top. She lifted it up in front of her and saw it was scarlet; spaghetti straps and definitely something Faith could deal with wearing. She placed it on the side and continued looking for something to go with it. Something at the very bottom of the drawer caught her interest. It had been tucked away tightly and hidden under numerous cotton tops as though Joyce had been afraid someone would find it. "Way to go Joyce," Faith commented holding up the black denim mini skirt. It would be a perfect match for the red top. Smiling, Faith started to get ready._

* * *

_Joyce shook her head woozily as she started to come to. She didn't remember much. Buffy fighting…a hospital…Faith…and she was sure at some point she had actually looked at herself, but not through a mirror. She looked around and realized she was in a police car. Why? She looked down in a daze, she felt heavily sedated, and saw that the jeans she was wearing and the legs that were in them were certainly not hers. And then it all came flooding back to her._

"_She's coming to," One of the policeman commented, "Man I wish I had this kid's constitution"_

"_Come on, let's move it. I wanna get her in before she's 100 per cent"_

_Joyce tried to say something, she wasn't sure what though, when a truck crashed directly into the police car stunning the two policemen as the car was forced to a sudden stop. _

* * *

"I can't believe the council have gotten involved," Giles said as he heard Joyce coming down the stairs. He did a double take. Wearing the black mini skirt she swore she would never wear again and a loose-fitting scarlet-red top, she was way too dressy for a simple group meeting, but Giles had to say he wasn't complaining. She had clearly washed her hair and it had been styled to neat perfection and make-up, which included a ruby red lipstick, had been reapplied. "J-Joyce" he stuttered. 

"Hi," She smiled confidently, looking around at everyone, "So I see we're all here then. Willow, Xander, Buffy…." She frowned in confusion when she saw Anya, "Everybody"

"Mom- what are you wearing?" Buffy asked in shock and then something clicked in her mind, "Oh my god, you haven't had any band candy have you?"

"Band candy?" _Faith vaguely remembered something from last year about the adults becoming teenagers_, "What? No. I just…" she sighed, "It looks good doesn't it? So what's the deal?"

Buffy frowned at her mother, not understanding why she was acting that way.

"No it's just…you know it might be a little much for inside the house is all…" Buffy said carefully. Clearly her Mom had been more unnerved by Faith's visit than she was letting on and was trying to reaffirm some confidence by…well, apparently, by dressing a little more daring than normal. "So they update you about Faith?" Joyce asked the group and they nodded. "So you know she's on her way to the big house?" Joyce grinned, "Justice is sweet"

Giles looked at Joyce in concern. She really wasn't herself and it was more than just being 'shook up'. He couldn't put his finger on it but she wasn't looking at him long enough for him to figure out. She didn't blame him for getting hurt did she? No, they'd gotten over those issues together. So what was it? Saving the problem for a later time he updated her on the situation with Faith.

"Faith is no longer in police custody," He told her and it was the first time since Faith had been taken away that he saw Joyce look serious.

"What? What do you mean?"

"The watcher's council have taken her," Xander informed her and then in pure confusion, "And since when did you start using the term 'big house'?"

Joyce looked over at Xander when he made this comment and saw him trying his hardest not to check her out. _Faith laughed inside. So little Xander had a thing for Buffy's Mom. Oh this just got better and better. You couldn't help but love good old Sunnyhell. But who the _hell_ was that girl with him?_

"What do you mean the Watcher's Council have taken her?"

"They sent a retrieval team to bring Faith back to England," Giles explained.

"Yeah, coz it worked so well when Wesley tried it," Joyce sneered sarcastically.

"Well this is uh, a special operations unit," Giles explained, "They handle the council's uh trickier jobs. Smuggling, interrogation…uh, wetworks?"

"Wetworks?" Anya asked.

"Scuba-type stuff," Xander explained wrongly.

"I thought it was murder,"

"Well yeah…" Xander agreed lamely, "But there could be underwater murder with like snorkels and stuff,"

"Yes, um," Giles dismissed Xander's incorrect ramblings, "So it will be a long, long time before she returns"

Joyce started chuckling at the thought, which soon melded into laughter and Giles watched with a frown. Not only was it odd enough that she was laughing about the situation at all, but it was a maniacal laugh. It wasn't hers. But it was familiar. But where from?

"Sorry," Joyce composed herself, "It's just I'm happy. Faith is evil" Everyone continued to look at her before they started talking again. That is Anya started complaining about how all this information could have been conveyed over the telephone and she wouldn't have had to head over here. _Faith looked over at Buffy who was in deep discussion with Willow. The back of Buffy's top had a slash in it where Faith had thrown her into the wall and her jeans were covered in dust and bits from the smashed table and if Faith wasn't mistaken a bruise was forming on Buffy's arm._

"Faith really kicked the crap out of you didn't she?" She asked abruptly interrupting Willow and Buffy's conversation.

"It was a pretty hard fight, yeah," Buffy admitted with a frown. The way her Mom was talking was just too weird. She was saved asking any questions about her behavior though as everyone, taking Anya's lead, got ready to leave and started heading out the door once they had waved small byes.

Once they were gone Buffy turned to Giles and her Mom.

"I'd better do the patrolling thing," She looked down at her tarnished clothes, "After I change- I think I left some slayer-suitable clothes here" She ran up the stairs and Joyce watched her go. _Faith knew if she was going to do the switch the opportunity was now. _

* * *

_Joyce's head was killing her- she felt like she was waking up from a hangover only without the fun memories of the party from the night before. Looking around she realized she was in what appeared to be an armored truck. Shaking her head to clear it she went to brush away the hair that wasn't hers but found the hands that weren't her own were chained to the inside of the truck. She tugged as hard as she could but they wouldn't budge._

"Well it's awake," One of the men in front of her said with a British accent.

"_Excuse_ me?" Faith asked, insulted by the use of the word 'it'. She looked at the three men and saw they were all unfamiliar and they certainly weren't the policemen from before. "Who are you?"

"Council" Weatherby replied monosyllabically and Faith groaned.

"As in Watcher's?" He nodded and Faith groaned even more, "Oh no- not you idiots"

"I don't think that's anyway to talk about us, considering who you are," Collins said.

"But I'm not!" Faith protested, "I'm not who you think I am. You've made a mistake. I'm not Faith. I'm Joyce Summers. I'm not sure how but Faith switched."

"Congratulations," Collins told her, "No one's ever tried that one before"

"It's the truth!" Faith insisted, "If I was lying why on earth would I say I was Joyce? I mean me…I mean…you know what I mean!" They looked at her without emotion, "You do know what I mean but you don't care do you?"

"What you are miss is the package," Weatherby explained, "And I don't care at all for the package itself, just that it gets where it's mean to go"

"You have to listen to me. Call Rupert. Get a hold of Buffy. Get them both here...somehow"

"We don't have to do anything," Weatherby told her, "But you'd do well to shut your mouth for the duration" He walked off without another word and Faith watched him go in disbelief. Collins spat in her face before he followed him and Faith looked at him with a mix of shock and hurt but also a little pissed.

* * *

"So, you ah, don't have to worry about being held hostage by Faith anymore," Giles joked lamely, trying to get Joyce's attention. She looked at him briefly. 

"Yeah, guess not." For that one split second she looked into his eyes he saw she wasn't her. He wasn't sure what she was now exactly, but she wasn't herself. Perhaps some spell Faith may have used? There were endless possibilities but as he was presently unsure he knew it was safer if he didn't let Joyce know he suspected anything, but he did need to fix it soon. When she said she was going to take a lie down upstairs he was relieved- it meant he could research freely.

* * *

Buffy had a comfy cotton top on that was a little lower than she wanted, but she had grabbed the first top and jeans she could find, as she was anxious to start patrolling so she didn't have time to worry whether a turtleneck would be better suited. Or rather she had time to worry, she just didn't have time to find the item. 

She turned around to leave and saw her Mom stood in the doorway.

"Hey, what's the up?"

"Nothing," Joyce assured her, walking over, "You're going patrolling?"

"No rest for the…well…slayer." Buffy replied, "I just don't want Adam having a chance to hurt anyone else"

"Just ah…" Her Mom seemed uncomfortable, "Just be careful." She went to hug Buffy and Buffy hugged her back and the two touched palms for just a moment, but it was long enough as a glow emitted from their hands where the metal gizmo was and Joyce looked at Buffy in complete and utter shock. Pulling her hand away, Buffy grinned and knocked Joyce out.

_Faith grinned, looking at the contraption on in her hand and then at the unconscious Joyce on the floor. Who was really Buffy. Faith laughed, dropped the gizmo and smashed it underneath her heel. Now she'd booked herself some plane tickets earlier on before heading downstairs to meet the group, but now she needed herself a passport. She walked over to the chest of drawers and found Buffy's passport in the first one she looked in. She grinned as she looked down at the picture of what was now her own face. She slipped it in her pocket and headed over to the mirror. Much better. A slayer who was ready to party. The outfit Buffy had put on wasn't too bad either. She tugged the low top lower so she was showing more cleavage- after all, might as well make the most of the new bod._

"See you Mom," Buffy sniggered and headed out of the room.

* * *

Giles knew that Joyce' strange, new laugh was familiar. He heard the front door closed and wondered why Buffy had just left without saying bye. It wasn't like her. What was with the Summers women lately? Ever since Faith had- Faith. Faith's laugh. That was where he had heard the laugh before- coming out of Faith's mouth. Without thinking he jumped up and ran up stairs. 

Walking along the hall quietly, he saw no one in his and Joyce's room and he carried on walking along to Buffy's. Through the open door he saw Joyce unconscious on the floor.

"Joyce!" He ran over to her. He still didn't know why she had had Faith qualities about her recently, but the fact she was knocked out ruled out the possibility that it was Faith as he had initially thought. "Joyce" He said calmly, trying to wake her up and she opened her eyes slowly. Then, upon seeing Giles, her eyes widened and she jumped away from him and stood up nervously.

"Now Giles…" Joyce said in a warning yet also nervous tone, "I want you to stay firmly on the other side of the room until you've heard what I've got to say"

"Giles?" Giles repeated in confusion, "Joyce, why-"

"I'm not Mom- I mean, Joyce. No I mean Mom." Joyce sounded very confused and Giles' eyes widened as he took in what she said and recognized the familiar body language.

"Oh my lord, Buffy?"

Joyce nodded with a shrug and a wince.

"Yah," Joyce said, "Listen I may be just guessing here, but considering what has happened lately I pretty much say any guess would be of the educated"

"Go on,"

"I don't think Mom was Mom before I was Mom." Joyce frowned at what she had said, "Man, that's a sentence I never though I'd say. Or is that never hoped?" She shook her head, "Anyway considering the psychoness of Faith I'd say the thing walking around wearing my body is in fact slayer number two"

"I'm inclined to agree," Giles told her, "I realized I recognized Joyce's laugh from-, well Joyce that was Faith- or, well, that is" he sighed in exasperation, "This is all terribly confusing"

_Buffy looked over at the full-length mirror behind her to see her Mom looking back at her. She could only look at the reflection in disbelief for a moment before she had to look away._

"And terribly weird," Joyce added, "Research mode?"

"Research mode" Giles went to repeat and then stopped, "Wait, if Faith is you…and you're Joyce then that means…"

"Mom's Faith" Buffy's eyes widened in horror, "And the council are taking her to England! We have to stop them!"

"I'll try and get hold of them," Giles said intending to pull the strings of every contact he had.

"And I'll research a way to fix this mess" Joyce told him and the two headed off in the direction they needed, both of them having forgotten in the moment that Faith was running around pretending to be Buffy…

* * *

_She could do this. She could fight them. She'd seen Buffy fight demons hundreds of times and these were just three men. Maybe that was the problem- they were human beings. Could she really hurt human beings? From what Joyce could here, they didn't seem to be having a problem with it. They were planning killing her right now. Well, killing Faith anyway. She had to think fast. She was in a slayer's body so that meant slayer reflexes right? Joyce hoped so and tried to ignore the nerves building up to a distracting level._

As the gun was pointed through the door, Faith dodged the bullet just in time.

_Okay, gun. How was Joyce going to deal with a gun? Her instincts told her to get hold of it and that she would be able to successfully. Ignoring her nerves she went with it._

Collins went to fire again but before he could the gun was pulled out of his hands so harshly by Faith grabbing the weapon between her boots that he was pulled into the truck door with a loud bang and he had one moment to feel the immense pain it caused before everything went black.

_She had the gun, now what did she do with it? Looking at the chains tying her to the truck she looked away with a wince as she shot off the bolts. She was amazed she actually did it without shooting herself in the leg. Way to go for slayer advantages. Now what? An escape would be good, Joyce thought and realized she was sitting in her best chance of escape. Shooting off the lock to the front of the truck she opened the door and got in the front seat. Within seconds she had found the keys and put them in the ignition. She started to panic as she saw Weatherby heading over to the truck in pure anger. As soon as he was near enough she opened the truck door on his face and he was instantly knocked out. She closed the door with a silent whoop and realized that perhaps she had been spending too much time with Buffy recently- her slaying habits were obviously influencing her. Turning on the engine, she shifted the gears and drove off through the warehouse doors._

* * *

"Damn it!" Giles cursed, hanging up and heading over to where Joyce/Buffy was researching. 

"No joy?"

"Not as such no. They all refuse to even speak to me, let alone hear what I have to say"

"Stupid, dumb, British guys," Joyce grumbled and then at Giles' hurt look corrected herself, "Not that you're a dumb British guy Giles. You're a good type of British. And in no way stupid or dumb"

"Any luck with the research?" Giles asked, sitting next to her to look over the books that were splayed out on the coffee table.

"If by luck you mean finding absolutely nothing of use then yeah, I've had plenty"

"The problem is," Giles, said, "I'm not even sure where we should be looking"

"I know one thing," Joyce said and he looked at her.

"What's that?"

She gestured at herself and then pointed at Giles.

"This is all too weird," She grabbed a few books, "I'm going to research in the dining room" and she walked off taking the books with her.

* * *

The next morning Giles awoke to find himself on the sofa. He'd fallen asleep researching. He looked over in the dining room and saw Buffy had done the same thing. It was beyond odd looking at Joyce and yet at the same time knowing it wasn't her. He couldn't imagine how odd it was for Buffy, but only hoped that everything would be solved soon. Picking up the mugs off the coffee table he headed into the kitchen to put them in the sink. He sighed tiredly as he walked back into the hall and saw Faith stood there. 

"Now, Rupert…" Faith said cautiously, "Please don't panic…or throw things at me for that matter…" She didn't get to finish her explanation and Giles came over to her and hugged her tightly, "Okay, uh, I guess you know then…" she said hugging him back before they broke apart to look at each other, "Unless this is how you normally treat raving psychotics"

"Joyce you're okay," He said looking at her. She looked like Faith, was Faith down to the last fingerprint in fact, but just as he had seen Faith in Joyce's eyes he now saw Joyce in Faith's.

"Pretty much," Something then occurred to her, "Where's Faith?"

"Mom?" _Joyce heard her own voice ask which was strange to say the least and she turned to see herself walking over to them sleepily._

"Mom?" Faith questioned, "Wait- aren't you Faith? You're not Faith" Joyce shook her head 'no', "_Buffy?_"

"Welcome to Sunnydale's confusing edition of Freaky Friday," Joyce joked with a little shrug.

"How come you're not Faith?" Faith sounded so very confused as though everything had been making perfect sense up till now.

"She switched again," Joyce explained, "Apparently she was looking for that slayer edge," she then seemed to remember that Faith still had her body, "Oh my god- Faith. She could be half to Mexico with my body by now."

"Don't worry Buffy, we'll find her," Giles said sounding more confident than he felt.

"This is too creepy," Faith, commented looking over at Joyce, that is herself, while still keeping one arm around Giles and he still had his arm wrapped around her waist.

"You're Faith," Joyce retorted, "and Faith and Giles are hugging each other- now _that's_ creepy"

"This whole situation is creepy," Giles concluded and the two women couldn't help giggling at his out-of-character use of the American slang term. Faith then stopped laughing as she took in what Joyce was wearing which was the red top and black mini skirt from the night before.

"What the heck am I wearing?"

Before the other two could explain Willow and Tara walked in.

"Willow-" Joyce and Faith both said at the same time, but Willow interrupted them.

"No we know about the switch." Willow said and then turned to Tara. She pointed at Faith, "This is Buffy, for real this time"

"No," Faith shook her head and pointed at Joyce, "_She's _Buffy. I'm Joyce."

Willow looked from Faith to Joyce and back again.

"Well that would actually explain the hugging," Willow admitted gesturing to the way Faith and Giles were stood.

"Wait, how did you know?" Joyce asked.

"I didn't," Willow, admitted, "Tara- oh, erm, guys this is Tara and this…is... really too confusing for me to introduce you, but this is Giles"

"Hi" Tara smiled nervously.

"Hello"

"Tara's a really powerful witch- no you are," Willow told them and argued against Tara's protests. "She knew right away that you weren't you. Not that you're you now. She knew Buffy wasn't Buffy. So we conjured this"

"What is it?" Joyce asked as they all looked at the glowing emerald sphere.

"It's a katra," Willow explained, "by connecting with the nether realms we were able to figure out that Faith did the switch…es through a draconian katra spell. If you can get hold of Faith and use it on her it should switch you all back."

"Thank god," Faith said with extreme relief when the phone rang. Giles picked it up.

"Oh yes. Buffy is here actually, but she- what? Oh alright," He hung up and turned to the others, "That was Xander- he says for us to turn on the news" Faith headed forward and switched on the TV and the others all gathered round to watch the report.

" _. . . And barricaded themselves in the church with at least 20 parishioners. One of the few who escaped described the three men as frighteningly disfigured, almost inhuman. So far, one escapee has since died of severe neck wounds."_

The group all looked at each other knowing they had to do something, but with the obvious complications they weren't sure what.

* * *

"I can't do this," Faith protested. 

"You'll be fine," Joyce assured her, "Just go for those slayer instincts."

"But I don't want to" Faith sounded pathetically childish through nerves.

"I will be there the entire time helping," Joyce said to her, "There's no need to worry"

Faith just looked at her sarcastically.

"We're driving to a church full of vampires in an armoured truck that has been stolen from the Watcher's Council. How can I _not_ worry?"

"Admittedly, things are a little strange," Giles said as he drove them to the church."But as a slayer things ought to come quite naturally to you when facing vampires. I would prefer to be in there myself-"

"But I'm the slayer," Joyce protested, "So I think I'd be more help"

"I was a watcher for a long time and I still think my insight would be greatly helpful," Giles argued, but knew it was pointless. Buffy's mind was made up.

"I'm sure you'll do fine," Willow assured her.

"Yeah," Faith said sounding less than convinced, "I mean I escaped from the watcher's council didn't I? And knocked two of them out"

"You knocked two members out?" Giles asked looking over at Faith and she nodded with a smile and he turned back to focusing on the road, looking quite happy about that information.

* * *

Riley swung the vampire around keeping a hold on his coat as he flung him into the sunlight. The vampire disintegrated. 

"You forgot your coat" He tossed said coat aside just a woman came charging into him and hugging him.

"Riley!" He pulled the woman back and saw it was Buffy's Mom. "Mrs Summers?"

"Joyce," The dark haired woman he didn't recognized corrected him.

"It's okay," He told Joyce, "Buffy's just fine, but perhaps it would be best for you to stay out of harm's way"

"No Riley," Joyce protested, "You don't understand…you see. Oh never mind. We need to get inside. How many vamps are there?"

"Well there's…" Riley frowned, "Wait," he looked over at Faith, "Who are you?"

* * *

Joyce picked up one of the smashed pieces of wood that made a perfect stake and handed it to Faith as they stepped in the church. 

"You've staked vamps before- now go make with the staking"

"Thanks you're very helpful," Faith said sarcastically and then looked over at the vampire.

"Wait isn't that you? I mean Faith, I mean- look!"

"Oh my god it is," Joyce said, "Faith's _actually_ doing the good girl routine. Good job you've got the katra with you now go" She shoved Faith forward and she staked the vampire immediately and he turned to dust so she had a clear view of a surprised-looking Buffy.

_Buffy watched in apprehension as Faith and her Mom began fighting. It was surreal to say the least. Faith punched her Mom and Buffy went to shout helpful instructions but before she could Joyce automatically retaliated with a left-hook spinning backhand combination and Buffy gave a surprised nod of approval as Faith was sent into the railing. She followed through with a side-axe kick just as Buffy would have done herself, but Faith unfortunately blocked it easily. Faith in a sudden fit of rage knocked Joyce to the floor and started pummelling her and Buffy immediately ran over to help_.

"You're nothing! Disgusting! Murderous bitch!" Buffy punctuated each insult with a punch to Faith's face. Joyce reached her and tried to pull Buffy backwards but she couldn't hold any weight against her. While Joyce temporarily distracted Buffy, Faith delivered a forward front kick to her jaw, which knocked Buffy off her.

"Buffy!" Faith called reaching into her pocket for the katra.

_Buffy heard her Mom call her name in Faith's voice and ran over as she saw her about to use the katra. As all three hands met around the emerald sphere Buffy was oddly reminded of the power-rangers before she felt herself returning to her own body._

Disorientated at being in her own body, Faith looked around in panic and confusion. Crawling onto her front she clambered up and ran out of the church and Buffy and Joyce watched her flee.

"Power up" Buffy commented feeling her racing heart and the tears Faith had shed on her face.

* * *

Back out in the sunlight mother and daughter saw Giles, Tara and Willow waiting for them. The moment she saw him Joyce ran over into his arms, glad she was finally back in her own body so she could do the things she couldn't when she was Faith. Practically leaping into his arms, but not quite, she kissed him passionately on the lips which made Tara and Willow grin and made Buffy smile disapprovingly out of habit. When they broke apart Joyce was smiling widely as was Giles, though his glasses were now a bit skew-whiff and he straightened them. 

"I assume then that the body-switching problem has been resolved"

"Yes everyone is who they're meant to be and Faith ran out of the church the moment it happened," Joyce said before looking at Tara, "Thank you Tara- for well, figuring it all out. Thank you too Willow"

"It was mostly Tara," Willow said and Joyce smiled knowingly. She would never have thought it of Willow, especially with the depth of her relationship with Oz, but Willow and Tara were definitely emitting item vibes. They had a similar attitude that she and Giles had had when they were hiding their relationship. Openly a couple between each other, but not quite ready to admit it to anyone else.

Deciding there and then that it was better for Tara and Willow that she didn't let on that she knew, she turned back to Giles and started kissing him again.

"You know he knew it wasn't you all along," Buffy told her and the two broke apart to look at her. She still kept her arms tightly around him though and he kept her close to him by keeping his arms around Joyce's waist.

"What honey?" Joyce asked.

"When Faith was pretending to be you," Buffy elaborated, "Giles could tell it wasn't you"

Joyce smiled as she looked up at Giles.

"Really?" She asked him sounding very impressed, "that's so sweet" and they were kissing again.

"Well, I'm off," Buffy told everyone, "I've my own man to see to" And she ran off to find Riley.

"Hey," Willow said, a thought occurring to her, "What are we gonna do with this truck?"

No one had an answer.


	16. Superstar

zigpal- thank you for the review claps. hehe. and you didn't realize in This Year's Girl? Ooh- all the better as it means Who Are You was even more of a suprise. hehe.

* * *

I know- uber quick update, but I have several books for college to be looking through that I really just can't face right now so I needed a distraction and voila- you have Superstar. hehe.

* * *

Both Joyce and Giles loved this restaurant. They came here for the majority of their dates, which as their relationship had progressed, had developed into more of a 'nights out' category rather than the primary 'date' category. They'd been here so many times and yet they never tired of Jonathon's. The restaurant was everything a restaurant should be and of course there was the obvious plus that the one and only Jonathon Levinson owned it.

"And the way he just staked that vampire before it even had a chance to start running!" Joyce exclaimed excitedly as she and Giles discussed the events of several nights ago in which Jonathon had saved the day again.

"It was amazing," Giles agreed, "And compelling to watch. I advised Buffy to start focusing more on Jonathon's tactics…you know to help with her slaying"

"She does try though…she's just…." Joyce didn't want to say what was in her head, but Giles filled in the blanks.

"No Jonathon?" he asked and she nodded sadly and then smiled. There would be no sad thoughts tonight. She refused to be melancholy when they were enjoying themselves at Jonathon's like a perfectly normal couple that didn't have vampires in their topics of conversation.

A waiter walked over to them a focused look on his face as he headed over to their table.

"Mr Giles? Mrs Summers?" He asked and the two nodded wondering whether they had come here so many times that the waiters now knew their names. Their surnames anyway.

"Yes?" Giles inquired.

"I have a message direct from Jonathon," The waiter told them looking very proud to be the one with this information, "He's called a meeting and requires everyone to be there"

Jonathon seemed to 'require everyone to be there' even if not everyone was actually needed and it was believed that he did this to make sure no one ever felt left out- he was great that way. Of course this meeting was interrupting their night out- something they hadn't done in a while- but it _was_ for Jonathon, wasn't it?

* * *

The two arrived home to find everyone already waiting there, including Jonathon. They had been updated on the recent events regarding the vampire nest Buffy and co had come across earlier that night and now everyone was working together to bring them down. 

"I think we have a plan," Jonathon announced after taking a look on he laptop Willow was working at and everyone listened with rapt attention. He handed Xander a crossbow who grabbed it eagerly and Anya took a stake, "Buffy," he threw a stake at her and she caught it easily, "you go in first, let 'em get a good look at the slayer, Xander-" He stopped to look at the chessboard that was set up in a corner of the room, "The Nimsilitiz defence," he said approvingly before moving a piece. He looked over at Giles, "hmm mate in four. You almost got me there Rupert" He smiled while Giles just looked on in pure disbelief. Joyce patted him on the shoulder supportively clearly emitting 'well, you tried' messages. "Xander, Willow and Anya- you back up Buffy," Jonathon carried on giving out the instructions that no one questioned, "I'll be the surprise guest. Everyone, let's show these fiends they came to the wrong town" And everyone started to walk out, a look of determination on their faces.

"Be careful," Joyce told them all as they trailed out the front door and Jonathon turned back suavely to face her.

"Don't worry Joyce," he assured her with a winning smile, "I'll bring them back safely." And with that he left, closing the front door behind him with a smooth click.

"I'm so glad he's going with them," Joyce said still watching the door but speaking to Giles, "Nothing can go wrong that way," she faced him, "You know you knowing Jonathon was how I first noticed you," she admitted,

"Really?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah," she nodded, "All suavely British working alongside _the_ Jonathon. Just the fact that you knew Jonathon- well, it was very, very attractive"

Rather than be insulted that her first interest in him had not been himself, he smiled.

"Well, I've known him years haven't I?" He said proudly and she laughed at the boast. She went over to the side where numerous papers and cups had been left and started to clear up. As she threw the last useless notepaper in the bin she saw a lipstick start to roll off the edge and she picked it up. She flipped it over and read the color at the bottom; Harlot. She looked at it wistfully for a moment before tossing it in the bin along with the paper.

"What was wrong with the lipstick?" Giles asked casually as he started to help her clear up by picking up the empty cups.

"It was the harlot." She told him, "I-I don't want it anymore."

"Why?" He still didn't understand. She took a deep breath as she went to tell him.

"It was the one Faith wore," She headed into the kitchen with the bin immediately after the confession and he automatically followed her.

"I didn't realize," he said as he set the cups down on the side, but Joyce could have guessed that fact for herself. She placed the bin beside her and turned toward him.

"It's just I so want to be mad at her- to really hate Faith for doing what she did and _not _just for being a raving psychotic who held me hostage,"

"But…?" He prompted.

"But…" Joyce shrugged, "but it's hard to. When I was…." Another sigh, "Being her showed me a different perspective that makes everything even more complicated than it already is." She looked at Giles, "They treated her so badly. As if she wasn't even a person- they were just. Going. To. Kill. Her. And if she's been treated similarly her whole life then is it any wonder she is the way she is?"

Giles didn't have anything to say. There was nothing _to_ say. He knew how much the council hated Faith- wanted rid of her- and he dreaded to think how much Joyce would have been through when they believed her to be the slayer. So he just crossed the room and held her.

"It's just it must be so hard for her, you know?" Joyce said and he nodded, "And I don't think she wants to be the way she is. I just think she must be very, very unhappy"

"They didn't hurt you did they?" Giles asked, pushing her away from him so he could look into her eyes, "I mean, _besides_ unsuccessfully trying to kill you" Joyce smirked a little.

"Nothing _too_…. just some things that makes me hate the council more than I already did," As she closed her mouth, pursing her lips slightly while clicking her tongue behind her front teeth with a pointed slow nod Giles laughed at her expression of pure 'let's just say…and not go any further than that'.

"Well, I would have been able to get you out of there myself," Giles told her, "If the council had actually bloody decided to listen to me"

"Well, you did enough," Joyce said and he raised his eyebrows in question and she explained, "You knew it wasn't me without being told anything. Do you know how much that actually means to me?"

"I love you too much to not know that it wasn't you," Giles said to her, frowning for a moment as he tried to see if the sentence had actually made sense, "everything that I love about you wasn't there when it was Faith. It was gone, just like that look in your eyes. And that's how I knew"

Joyce smiled widely at him, unable to stop grinning as she took in all the words he said.

"You really know how to sweet talk a girl you know that?" And she began kissing him, the smile still playing at her lips. "So Jonathon's performance at the Bronze tonight," she said as they parted and he nodded.

"Yes, don't worry," he sighed, "We're still going," she let out a little enthusiastic 'whoop!' "Like I'd let us miss one of Jonathon's shows," he tutted surprised the thought had ever occurred to her. Due to his busy, hectic lifestyle it had been a while since Jonathon had last performed at The Bronze and so there was no chance any one of them was going to miss it- especially since there were rumors he was going to play something from his new album.

* * *

Anya, Xander, Buffy and Riley were sat a table at the Bronze with Willow and Tara stood next to them as they all talked and listened to the band when Buffy saw her Mom and Giles come over, trailing through the crowd towards them as they held hands. 

"Mom- what are you doing here?" She asked as they joined Willow and Tara in the ceremony of standing around the now seatless table.

"It's Jonathon," Joyce said in a 'duh' tone as she gestured in the direction of the stage.

"She has a point," Anya agreed, "To miss one of Jonathon's performances would be like doing that thing some religious people don't like…. what's it called?"

"Blaspheming?" Tara filled in helpfully and Anya nodded with enthusiastic agreement.

"Yes, to not see Jonathon would be blasphemy."

"Back to what we were saying An," Xander got hold of his girlfriend's attention, "You so did"

"Did not," Anya denied.

"You did what?" Giles asked, but from Anya's reproachful look he corrected himself, "Or…or didn't do"

"Last night with me," Xander explained, "She said Jonathon" Before anyone could respond Anya automatically corrected him.

"It was a moan!"

"Fine!" Xander accepted, "You moaned Jonathon. How could you do that while _we_ were having sex?"

"Oh it's all subconscious," Joyce, informed him, "It's very easy to do- moaning his name that is." The teens all looked at her silently, except for Anya who was listening with rapt, unembarrassed attention, "Not there is any moaning" She told them all, "Or groaning…. or any sex at all for that matter. Obviously" As the others began talking again, desperate for a distraction, Joyce cast a little smile Giles' way as she looked sidelong at him and he laughed quietly.

"See it's perfectly normal," Anya said to Xander using Joyce's words to prove her own point. Before Xander could give any kind of reply, Jonathon came to the stage and they all fell quiet to watch him.

"Good evening everyone. I'd like to dedicate this to some friends of mine- a very special couple who've been going through a tough time."

And then after the 'oooh' of the audience settled down Jonathon began to sing.

_"When I hear that serenade in blue I'm somewhere in another world, alone with you. Sharing all the joys we used to know, many moons ago"_

Joyce watched as Riley extended his hand to Buffy and the two glided onto the dance floor hand-in-hand. It was amazing what Jonathon's voice could do. One dedicated song from Jonathon and the couple were already on the way to making everything better between them. Suddenly wishing for a slow dance of her own Joyce turned to Giles.

"I know it's not exactly our lyrics but…" she gestured in the direction of the dance floor.

_"Once again your face comes back to me"_

"Oh n-no," Giles stuttered at the thought, "I was never one for dancing in front of a large crowd. Buffy's prom I believe was the first and last time."

"Oh come on- it's not that hard," Joyce persuaded him, taking his hand.

_"Just like the theme of some forgotten melody"_

As she trailed onto the dance floor he had no choice but to follow her lead. She wrapped her arms around his neck loosely and he in turn automatically placed his own arms around her waist. And as they started to sway to the music Giles realized something. This was it. _It_. He sometimes had brief moments when he missed the effects of the band candy- the freedom of being a teenager again, wild and not caring. He loved being daring with Joyce, the thrill of impressing her and how in pure teenage style she attempted to rebel against him but at the same time hung on every word. It had been nice. But this was nicer. This was deeper, more mature, the relationship now so much more than simple attraction. Simply put, it was Love. He looked down at her and caught her eye and she smiled warmly at him.

"See it's not so difficult is it?" She asked referring to their dancing and she shook his head.

_"And as we danced the night away I hear you say forever more"_

"Actually, not at all," he admitted, "it's very enjoyable in fact" he added with a smile that matched her own.

_"But you remained in my heart so, tell me darling is there still a spark?"_

Drawing closer as they danced Joyce rested her head on his shoulder enjoying the moment. It was these little instances that made everything seem perfect. She was happy in this relationship, deeply in love, but she had to admit to herself that she didn't know where the relationship itself was going just that it was in a lovely place right now. And as the music and the sound of Jonathon's voice washed over as she danced with Giles she didn't actually wonder or care about where the relationship was going, just enjoyed where it was presently as she knew that was enough.

_"Should I go on whistling in the dark, serenade in blue"_

As the song came to an end the couple looked at each other before kissing and both of them felt the warmth in the kiss. The part of it that told them the other loved them as much as they loved the other. No less, no more. Just equal. Just perfect.

* * *

"_Buffy_ called the meeting?" Joyce asked incredulously after Giles explained that Buffy had requested the entire gang come over. 

"Yes," Giles said with as much disbelief, "She said it was important"

"But what about Jonathon? I mean if it's really important wouldn't Jonathon call the meeting?"

Giles looked at her, a frown starting to form on his face slightly as he tried to figure out the whys behind what he was about to say.

"I don't believe Jonathon is coming at all," he told her and Joyce all but dropped her jaw wide open in shock,

"Then _how_ can we have the meeting?" she asked him and he shrugged in answer. He didn't know what was the matter with Buffy for her to call this meeting, but it had to be something at odds if she didn't want Jonathon coming.

There was an eager knock at the door.

"Somebody's already here," Giles said as though Joyce hadn't already come to this conclusion. There was more eager knocking and Joyce and Giles looked at each other before deducting in synchronization:

"Anya"

* * *

"He knows something about the monster!" Buffy insisted when the meeting was well underway. "He was reacting to the mark. Oh!" She jumped up as something came to mind, "Wait, I remember something- Mom. Do you have Jonathon's swimsuit calendar?" 

"Pfft! Have I…." Joyce trailed off, "Yes." As she went to get it Giles stared after her in disbelief.

"You said you didn't have it," As she came back with the calendar and handed it to Buffy she looked at Giles with one raised eyebrow.

"And you believed that?"

Everyone gathered around to look as Buffy quickly flipped through the calendar until she landed on the month she was looking for.

"Ah! Whoa! There!" She pointed to his shoulder where a familiar mark had been branded on him.

"Pretty darn lickable," Anya agreed with a nod that clearly showed her thoughts were now elsewhere.

"I think she's pointing at the symbol Anya," Joyce explained.

"That's what Tara saw," Willow told everyone.

"Why would Jonathon have the same mark as the monster?" Riley asked the question on everyone's mind as they all continued to stare at the photo.

"I don't know," Buffy replied, "But he's definitely keeping something-"

"Is this a private party or can Mr July sit in?" Jonathon asked casually and they all turned to see him leaning against the post of the doorway that leads into the living room.

"Jonathon" Buffy said in a tone that barely hid that they had been talking about him.

"Hi" Anya greeted him nervously as she began to ramble, "Buffy was just saying how you had a monster cut up Willow's friend-" A wide-eyed look from Buffy stopped Anya mid-chatter.

"Buffy?" Jonathon inquired, not a hint of anger in his voice.

"No!" She denied, "It's just…the mark. You said it was safe…and it wasn't. I'm sorry…I just don't understand."

"Then I'll explain," And everyone sat down preparing to listen as Jonathon began to tell his tale.

* * *

After Buffy and Jonathon left to fight the demon, the rest of the group continued to research into the reason behind the demon's existence. Anya tapped a pencil loudly on an open book as she lounged in a chair already bored with reading through the books. Xander sat opposite her on the coffee table flipping rather than reading and while Joyce and Giles sat together on the sofa looking through the books thoroughly Riley paced while reading the books in amazement. Willow was reading so fast, anxious to find the information that she had already gone through four books. 

"You had the calendar all along?" Giles asked Joyce casually as they continued to research.

"Yes," She nodded not even looking up as she added nonchalantly, "I also have the poster book." She looked up at him and from the expression on his face cleared her throat with discomfiture before she got up and sat next to Xander to avert Giles' gaze.

"These spells…they really work?" Riley asked them all in disbelief looking up from the book he had been reading, "I mean can you really 'turn your enemies inside out'? Or learn to 'excrete gold coins'?"

"That ones not so much fun," Anya informed him apparently from personal experience.

"They work Riley, but they take concentration," Willow told him, "being attuned with the forces of the universe"

"Right," Xander agreed looking down at his own book, "You can't just go 'librum incendre' and expect-" he was cut off by the book setting aflame and Joyce ducked aside out of the way just in time so her hair wasn't turned to cinders. Xander closed the book immediately and the flames were extinguished.

"Xander don't speak Latin in front of the books," Giles reprimanded with a sigh and Joyce shook her head in agreement as she slowly and carefully took the ancient book from Xander' hands and replaced it with a modern paperback.

"Hey I found the mark!" Willow exclaimed looking at everyone with a pleased smile but that soon faded when she realized what the symbol meant, "It's part of an augmentation spell. Jonathon did an augmentation spell…"

"What? How?" Riley asked before another question appeared in his mind, "Wait what did Jonathon have…augmented?"

Giles peered over Willow's shoulder to look at the page she had found the information on.

"Well, ah-"

"He's going to do the confusing over-wordy explanation thing isn't he?" Xander asked Joyce as the group turned to look at Giles waiting for him to bring them up to date on all things augmentation spell-y.

"I'll try and translate," Joyce joked but believed, having spent so much time with Giles, she now genuinely could. She did worry at times that the way he spoke was beginning to influence her for the other day when she had dropped something heavy on the kitchen floor with had slightly smashed one of floor tiles she had cursed 'bloody hell' which was not a phrase she had ever known herself to use before.

"Well an augmentation spell amends certain factors that one may wish is improved," Giles explained and Joyce looked at Xander.

"_An augmentation spell does exactly what it says on the box" _she translated.

"It turns the spell caster into a paragon," Giles continued, "an ultimate of all that is good in the revolutionized world"

"_Don't worry, I know it sounds good but the bad part will follow shortly,_" Xander nodded in mock seriousness to show he understood the translation.

"But a balance is needed for the paragon to remain," Giles told them, "And from what I've read in sources-"

"_I am of course referring to Spiderman Issue seventy-two,_" Joyce joked, getting into the translation thing and Xander let out a short burst of laughter which prompted a disapproving look from Giles, but the ex-watcher carried on anyway.

"-it has to create the opposing negative force. Everyone's nightmare."

Xander now looked at Joyce eagerly for the explanation even though he knew exactly what Giles had said.

"_Some of us may be going home in shoeboxes,_" She joked satirically.

Giles saw that most of the group were now listening in to Joyce's 'translation' but he carried on giving out the information on the augmentation spell anyway.

"Now this evil will be unlike any we've recently faced"

"_I can't talk about Adam anymore,_" Joyce translated.

"And our only way to survive this, to help Buffy survive it as well," he added, "is to focus entirely on fixing this"

"_I _still_ don't want to talk about Adam"_

Giles started looking around for a book he knew he had seen just a moment ago.

"Now I believe this spell shares similarity with a Tibetan good luck charm"

"_I _think_ they might be in the same book…" _Joyce translated again causing titters of laughter, while Riley pursed his lips trying to remain the gentlemen soldier he was and not laugh outright.

"So perhaps we shall find some help in that" Giles told them all as he finally found the book he was looking for.

"_And if we don't? Good luck all round for everyone_"

Giles looked over at Joyce patiently.

"Could you not do that Joyce?" He asked and she shrugged slightly while looking up at him.

"I don't know…it's really addictive," she told him with a sheepish smile.

Willow looked at the couple as the two smiled knowingly at each other and it gave Will the warm fuzzies. Joyce had essentially been mocking Giles' openly and yet he wasn't even mad. If anything, from what Willow could tell from the way he was looking at her, he seemed to find the whole thing quirky and cute. Willow had noticed that the two had been getting even more serious lately, even if that fact had escaped everyone else and it wasn't just in a 'we-can't-keep-our-hands-off-one-another' kind of way. It seemed like the relationship had gone deeper and Willow wondered where that would lead the couple.

"So Jonathon essentially did a spell to make us think he was cool?" Xander summarized and Giles nodded, "That is _so_ cool"

* * *

"Well, hopefully this night won't be interrupted by demon fighting," Joyce said as they waited for their courses to be delivered. 

"Yes, well, I thought it be only suitable to continue in the same place we left off," Giles said gesturing to the restaurant they were sat in, "Although I have to say I no longer have the same leeway with the owner now" Joyce laughed.

"Yeah…it's just so weird it not being Jonathon's anymore" she looked over at the door sign that read _Yates_. "I mean I know it wasn't real, but I still remember it you know?" Giles nodded.

"Yes certain memories do remain prominent"

"But why?" She asked, "I mean everyone else- they seem to have no clue about the temporary reality blip but we all remember it."

"Denial…repression mostly," he told her, "If people don't actually know the facts as we do, they tend to explain away what they can and forget what they can't to the point that they physically no longer have the memory of well…Jonathon's reality."

"I remember," Joyce nodded.

"The Jonathon reality?" Giles asked but Joyce shook her head.

"No…repressing things. Rationalizing what I could. I saw a vampire dusted before my eyes by Buffy and I still suggested she might be having a breakdown and that everything was imaginary," As she told him this she realized how ridiculous the fact of that was and she started laughing and Giles joined in. He stopped though, still smiling, as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small envelope.

"What's that?" she asked as she twirled the envelope in between his hands.

"Something…that I hope you'll like." He told her slightly nervously as he handed the envelope to her and she took it carefully and looked at him suspiciously as she opened it. She pulled out two return plane tickets.

"To London" she said looking up at him with broad smile. She remembered the conversation they'd had where he had suggested they perhaps one day take a trip to England but she had always assumed it was typical couple talk. Where you both wanted to do the thing you were talking about but never actually got around to it. But he apparently hadn't forgotten and_ had_ got around to it. "This is wonderful." She told him, "Of course I like it but…" she trailed off as she looked at the dates on the ticket. 26th May. "But these are for a month away"

"And?"

"Well, what about Adam?" she knew none of them could go anywhere until the demonoid was stopped.

"Well, I intend for us to successfully stop him, all our limbs still attached and working, by the date on those tickets" He told her confidently. She smiled again as she put the tickets back in the envelope and she leant across the small table to kiss him. She poured every ounce of gratitude she felt into the kiss and it lasted longer than she actually intended. Pulling back and resuming her original seating position she saw the waiter stood there with the food.

"Sorry," she immediately apologized. Why did waiters keep appearing whenever they were kissing? Bad timing seemed an understatement.

"Oh no, no" The waiter assured them placing the food down on the table in front of him, "Never apologize for a kiss." He winked, "Especially for one like that. Enjoy your meal." And he left the table leaving the two occupants blushing.


	17. Where The Wild Things Are

Well, Joyce's translation of Gilesese seemed to be very much of the successful haha. You all seemed to really like it.

g120-ooh _thunderous_ applause- I'm all of a dither. Maybe I should bow...haha. 'apptitude for humorous prose is well ascertained by this juncture, I dare venture'- I did my own translation for that- "_This girl's brilliant"_. haha. ;-). Nothing like a little ego stroking. And ooh lala- did you say you have the three issues of season 8? very cool. Just got my third issue yesterday. Vair much of the good. ;-) Thank you so much for the ego-inflating review. hehe.

Rabidreject- a nice long review for me to have an ogle at. haha. thanks for review and actually I have actually got plans for the whole aftermath of the Joyce-Faith switcheroo and I have a Faithcentric-esque chapter coming up soon...;-)

zigpal- thank you for the reviewosity. And ooh- leaps and bounds better? Tssh, you're making me blush! hehe. And don't worry- here is the next one (obviously) haha.

* * *

"She's going to be here for three days, Rupert, _three_ days" Joyce paced frantically occasionally straightening a pillow on the sofa that wasn't quite right. "How can this possibly go well?" she continued to pace, looking at her watch every few seconds while Giles sat patiently watching her from where he sat on the sofa.

"Why on earth not?" Giles asked and she didn't stop pacing as she fully explained the reasons behind her anxiety.

"Because Arlene and I- while we get along very well as sisters- well, she- and her husband- can be a tad judgemental." She stopped pacing finally and looked directly at him as she carried on talking, "I mean she was constantly helping and supporting me when I was divorcing Hank but she was very disapproving of the divorce itself. She didn't believe it the right thing to do for Buffy. Arlene and Peter hate the whole Single Mom package and I _really_ don't think they'll approve of the single mom who's not so single anymore." She carried on pacing again. They weren't going to arrive for an hour or so, but still the wait was unbearable. She didn't know what to expect from the visit. Arlene didn't even know much about Giles. Or anything that was going on in Joyce's life at all.

Watching her pace nervously, Giles eventually stood up and on her way back along her pacing path grabbed her shoulders so she stopped walking. She looked into his eyes and he saw the intense worry there- the weight of the world look.

"And how am I supposed to keep this whole Buffy's the slayer thing secret, huh?" Joyce asked as he still had hold of her to prevent her from resuming her pacing, "I mean demons come crashing through, Scooby meetings, all your books will be hard to explain, vampires trying to get themselves invited in-oh god, what if Arlene accidentally invites a vampire in? Or Peter does? What'll we do then? I could be gone for just five minutes to find some vampire feasting on the two of them after they invited in what they believed to be an average everyday salesman"

"Everything will be _fine_," He assured with a slight laugh, "Trust me" He felt her visibly relax as he said these words and her shoulders untensed showing there was no more pacing to be done. She finally relaxed completely as they stood together and she rested her head on his chest. "It'll be fine," he repeated.

"I know," she agreed her voice muffled by his shirt, "but can you still try to be as perfect as possible?"

* * *

"Arlene!" Joyce smiled as she opened the door and saw her sister and brother-in-law stood on the front doorstep. 

"Joyce!" Arlene said in reply as the two hugged tightly.

"Well come in then," Joyce said as the two broke the hug and she stepped aside to let Arlene walk in with Peter trailing behind carrying their bags. The moment Arlene stepped into the hall her eyes landed on Giles. She knew that this was the man Joyce had been talking about- the one she was now living with and Arlene had to reluctantly say he was not unpleasant to ogle. Which was getting to make a little bit harder to disapprove of the whole thing, but a girl has to do what a girl has to do.

As Joyce closed the door behind Peter she walked back to join the quiet circle and stood next to Giles.

"Erm…Rupert this is my sister Arlene and this her husband Peter," she pointed at the relevant people feeling like a teenager introducing her boyfriend to her parents, "Arlene, Peter this is, uh, Rupert."

"Hello," Giles held out his hand and shook both Arlene and Peter's, "It's very nice to meet you" The two nodded with a smile, taking note of the accent immediately and were about to say something when the phone rang and Giles went into the living room to answer it. While he was gone Joyce gave a silent look Arlene's way that said 'well?' and Arlene shrugged before going to stand beside her sister.

"You didn't tell me he was British" she commented.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Joyce immediately asked.

"The fact that you didn't tell me?" Arlene asked, "That's a bad thing." She then looked thoughtfully over at Giles who was still talking on the phone apparently to Buffy if his 'Wait- what happened Buffy?' was anything to go by. "But the Brit thing?" she looked at Joyce with a conspiratorial smile, "I say that's a good thing" Joyce playfully hit her sister on the arm as Giles came back into the hall.

"I have to go," he said to Joyce, "Buffy has erm…" he looked at Arlene and Peter for a moment before looking back at Joyce, "some _studies_ she needs help with"

"Unh" was all Joyce could say. He was leaving her to answer Arlene's questions all by herself. How was she supposed to show him off if he wasn't here to do so?

"I shouldn't be too long. I'll be back in a bit"

"_Unh_" the sound took a more desperate tone as it fully sank in that he was leaving. He gave her a quick kiss before turning to Arlene and Peter.

"It was, uh, well, it was nice meeting you," he told them.

"Likewise," Arlene agreed as Giles left. Once he was gone she grabbed her sister's arm and started leading her to the sofa in the living room. "So where is he from exactly?" Joyce went to answer, but Arlene kept on firing the questions "How come he's here? How did you two meet? What does he do for a living? How does he feel about Buffy? How long have you been living together?"

"Whoa!" Joyce held up hands to stop Arlene's constant questions, "For questions to work, Arlene, you have to give me time to answer them"

"Right," Arlene agreed just as Peter took a seat in one of the chairs to listen to the conversation, "Well, then…erm…." She struggled to pick which question she wanted the answer to firs, "Where…well how did you two meet?"

She has to start with the difficult ones doesn't she, Joyce thought. What was she supposed to say? _Chocolate_ brought them together?

"Well, actually we, uh, we met through Buffy," Joyce said as an answer. It wasn't a lie- it was just omitting certain truths. "He was her High School librarian" she explained.

"Ah so that's where he works now," Arlene deducted but saw from Joyce's look that that wasn't the case, "He doesn't anymore?"

"No"

"Well, how come?" Arlene asked, wondering perhaps if he had been offered a better job.

"Well, the school blew up," Joyce automatically replied and then realized how strange that would sound to someone who wasn't a resident of Sunnydale, "It was a uh, _freak_ gas explosion. Absolutely terrible. Happened at Buffy's graduation"

"That's terrible." Arlene commented, "And I thought Sunnydale was meant to be a quiet Californian town"

"So did I," Joyce murmured in agreement before looking at both of them, "So would you like to head up to your room. The guest room is all ready. I mean, it must have been a very long, tiring drive"

"It was in fact, Joyce," Arlene agreed but then pushed Joyce back down on the sofa, as she had been starting to get up, "But you're not getting away from me that easily. I want to know everything"

"Everything?" Joyce asked with a weak smile, as somehow she didn't think she would be able to tell her everything even if she was allowed.

* * *

Arlene had been sat in the kitchen with Peter just talking quietly with him, feeling a little refreshed from the trip after the enormous sleep she had had. She looked around the kitchen briefly taking in the décor. Joyce definitely had a nice little set-up here. A lovely detached house in a lovely southern Californian town. It had been something her sister had always wanted, but her ex-husband Hank had insisted on living in L.A claiming it was better for his business work. So apparently they had better-looking secretaries in the city of angels. She had felt so sorry for Joyce when the whole thing had come out and that that hadn't been the first affair. She knew where Joyce was coming from but Arlene had always believed it would have been better if the two of them had tried to work through it- perhaps through marriage counselling- for Buffy's sake. After all, it couldn't have done the girl too much good being from a single parent family? Of course Joyce had never agreed with that theory- claiming that the majority of children from single parent families become strong, independent people and Buffy was already a very strong person and would be okay. Yet, here Joyce was no longer living the single life. Of course Buffy was off to university now- Joyce probably hardly saw her anymore. Joyce suddenly walked in the kitchen, breaking Arlene out of her thoughts. 

"Right, we're popping out for a bit," Joyce told her, "We won't be long" And she dived out of the kitchen before Arlene could ask any questions. Smiling at Peter calmly she put down the cup of coffee she had been nursing and rushed after her sister. She saw her reaching for her coat but didn't see Giles in the immediate vicinity.

"Hey-hey-hey- Where are you going?" Arlene asked.

"Just out," Joyce replied casually as she put on a light jacket.

"You're not going to tell me are you?"

Joyce smiled sweetly at her sister before shaking her head.

"No"

Arlene hit Joyce on the arm to show how unfair she thought this was. Joyce tapped her back in retaliation. Forgetting how this had gone when they were younger, Joyce didn't move when Arlene delivered a small, sharp kick into Joyce's shin.

"Ow" Joyce complained, rubbing her leg with one hand and then hitting Arlene with the other. It was amazing how no matter how much time they spent apart or how older they got, more than twelve hours with each other they reverted to their childhood selves. It was a sister thing. Since Joyce was still rubbing her shin- Arlene had a pretty hard kick- she only had the one hand and was a little unbalanced so Arlene used the opportunity to grab Joyce's one free arm and twist it round her back. "Ah-ah! What are you doing?" Joyce asked, shin forgotten as her arm was pushed up her back.

"Tell me where you're going," Arlene smiled, a laugh in her voice.

"You're forty-six years old Arlene," Joyce reprimanded, "Aren't you a little old for this?"

"Where?" Was all Arlene said in answer as she pushed the arm a little further up Joyce's back causing Joyce to move forward slightly. Joyce sighed- being the younger sister she remembered going through a lot of this as a child and also throughout her teenage years. So she remembered how to get out of it. It was just something that never left you. She used her free hand to reach up near Arlene's neck- Arlene being very ticklish- when Giles came down the stairs and paused with a frown as he took in the scene: Joyce reaching for Arlene's neck as she was bent forward slightly due to the fact Arlene had twisted her arm up her back. It was an odd scene considering these were two forty-odd year old women and not two twelve year olds.

"Uh, well, uh-" Giles straightened his glasses as though this might make the scene make more sense, "What's going on?" The two sisters didn't even move from how they were stood as they answered him.

"She wants to know where we're going," Joyce told him.

"But she won't tell me because I don't think she wants me to come along with," Arlene added.

"And you thought you'd settle this by…. fighting?" He asked slowly and sighed as he realized neither of them were going to be the first to let go of each other, "We're going to the Espresso Pump" He told Arlene and she let go of Joyce's arm with a satisfied smile.

"See that wasn't so hard was it?" She asked Joyce who was rubbing her arm. "So, erm, what's going on there?"

* * *

_"No one knows what it's like,"_

"So he sings and plays too," Arlene commented. Despite Joyce's obvious silent protests Arlene had come along. She had tried to get Peter to join them but he claimed to dislike the coffee shop scene and settled himself down for a TV session on Joyce's sofa. "You really know how to pick 'em"

"What?" Joyce asked with a frown, trying to concentrate on Giles, but Arlene kept interrupting.

"You. You seem to be ticking off everything on your list,"

_"To be the bad man,"_

"What list?" Joyce asked, briefly looking at Arlene before resuming watching Giles.

"The list you had as a kid, we both had actually. I believe yours included that he had to be from across seas, preferably England as you loved the accent, he had to be smart and funny, good looks obviously,"

_"To be the sad man,"_

As Arlene stated the characteristics the list actually came back to Joyce and she cringed at the memory.

"Can sing" Arlene carried on, "I think that had something to be with your six-year-old obsession with _Sleeping Beauty_ that you never really grew out of. And as we got to about sixteen I think it was you added on 'plays guitar"

"_Behind blue eyes,"_

Joyce looked over at Arlene with a patient smile for bringing up the list but she couldn't deny she had a point. Right now though, she was just enjoying listening to Giles' voice as she sang so she turned back to look at him.

"You're really smitten aren't you?" Arlene commented with a smirk, but then she saw something else get Joyce's attention.

"Oh god" She said and stood up. She looked at Arlene, "I'll be back in a minute" and she headed across the room to what Arlene could see were four teenagers.

"What are you guys _doing_ here?" Joyce asked as she walked over to Willow, Tara, Xander and Anya. All there eyes were fixed on Giles, all four of their jaws slightly open. Xander seemed to be the only one that looked horrified though, the girls looked as riveted as Joyce had been a moment ago. Neither of the girls answered her question, but Xander turned away from Giles apparently glad of a distraction as he explained to Joyce the situation with the haunted house.

"Don't you have any normal college parties?" Joyce asked once he was finished and Xander shrugged.

"I keep asking myself the same thing"

"Does he do this a lot?" Tara asked, not taking her eyes off Giles.

"Sure," Xander nodded, "Every time the earth rotates backwards and the sky turns orange."

"Actually he does sing and well, play guitar quite a lot," Joyce told them, "but this is the first time in a while that he's performed"

"I totally get it now," Anya said.

"What? The song?" Xander asked, wondering if finally The Who lyrics were starting to make sense in Anya's literal brain.

"No" Anya gestured with a nod in Joyce's direction but just like Tara didn't take her eyes away from Giles. "You- having sex with him."

"Date. You couldn't have said 'dating him'" Xander complained looking like he was about to have a nervous breakdown. He paused as he contemplated what she actually said, "What do you mean you 'get it'?"

"Oh you know," Anya said casually, "With the whole acoustic guitar thing with the sexy voice and ruggedly handsome looks" Joyce raised an eyebrow at Anya, intrigued by the comment but Xander looked like he was dying a slow death inside.

"Well, he _is_ pretty good" Tara debated, still watching Giles.

_"That's never free,"_

"Come on, it is kinda sexy," Willow said and Joyce was yet again surprised by the group's reaction. Considering how much they made fun of Giles and the fact Joyce was dating him- now living with him- they all seemed to be easily crushing on the man. Well, Anya being the only straight one now out of the three girls, was anyway. "No wonder I used to have such a crush on him in High School" Willow added. _Then again…_ Joyce thought with a smile.

"What?!" Xander looked at the girls as though they had all grown second heads and Joyce had to hold back a laugh. To Xander Giles would clearly always be just Giles- the stuffy, British, librarian and the fact his best friend and girlfriend were seeing him as a lot more than that was apparently causing the boy's self-destruction. "I'm fighting total mental breakdown here Will," Xander said a tone of desperation in his voice, "No more fuelling the fire please"

As the song finished Giles immediately headed over to the group having spotted them mid-song. He looked incredibly embarrassed, as he knew the group had seen him singing.

"I didn't actually-ah-intend for any of you to actually, erm, see that" He said.

"You and me both pal," Xander said.

"Well I wouldn't worry too much," Joyce said to Giles, "Xander was kinda was stuck in dumb horror, but the girls were _very_ impressed" This seemed to improve Giles' confidence a bit as he smiled slightly.

"R-really?" He asked looking at them and Willow and Tara nodded with supportive smiles.

"It was, v-v-very good Mr Giles," Tara told him.

"_Very_ good" Anya agreed smiling warmly at Giles and Joyce jumped unnoticeably as she saw Anya smile and raise her eyebrow at Giles in a suggestive 'hello there' way. Instinctively Joyce moved closer to Giles. Anya, after all, was known to be impulsive. Xander had also caught the look Anya had thrown Giles and he almost retched in shocked disgust.

"Oh god," he said raising his hand, "Can I be blind?"

"Yes, uh, well," Giles shot a nervous look Anya's way before turning to the rest of the group, "Why _are _you here?"

Amongst the five of them they quickly updated Giles on the events that had happened at the party at the Initiative house.

"Right well perhaps-" Giles was about to devise a plan when Arlene walked over.

"I got a bit bored with the being alone at a table," she told them all with a smile looking round at the unfamiliar faces, "Who is everyone?" she asked Joyce clearly wondering why her sister and Giles were hanging out with a group of teenagers.

"Oh erm this is Xander, Anya, Willow and Tara," Joyce told her, "They're friends of Buffy's. Uh, all of you this is my sister, Arlene"

"Aah," Xander said, "Buffy's aunt from Illinois."

All three adults looked at Xander surprised that he actually retained this sort of information.

"So, where is Buffy?" Arlene asked looking around as though expecting her niece to suddenly pop up into sight. The rest of the group looked at each other uncomfortably unable to actually say where Buffy was.

"She's in her boyfriend's house," Anya supplied and the others were relieved at how she had managed to save their asses so casually, until she carried on speaking, "Most likely having lots and lots of se-" Xander put a hand across her mouth.

"Do you have a car with you?" Joyce asked the teens and they shook their heads.

"No, we walked here," Willow told her and Joyce sighed in exasperation- this was going to make things more complicated.

"Right, fine we'll drive there in mine" she looked at her sister, "but we'll drop you off home first"

"What? I'm not a child," Arlene said offended that the rest of them were going somewhere and she was being dropped off at home like a seven year old who wasn't allowed to stay out past six.

"No, but we kinda need to sort something out," Joyce explained but Arlene looked unconvinced so Joyce threw Giles a 'help me out here' look.

"It's to do with the college. They actually need us to go over there," Giles told Arlene, "Quite boring I don't doubt, but hopefully it should be over rather soon" Arlene nodded slowly, accepting the excuse and then shrugged before walking out to head to the car- the rest of the group followed silently, relieved she hadn't asked them anything else. "You sure you want to come for this?" Giles asked Joyce as they left the Espresso Pump, "I doubt it'll be much more than research"

"You're not leaving me alone with my sister again," she told him, "I can't answer any more awkward questions" Giles laughed slightly at the serious tone in Joyce's voice. He wondered what awkward questions she had been asked.

* * *

So much for 'just research' Joyce thought as she and Giles drove up their driveway. There had been research- at the college library mainly as they looked for information on the house's history- but it had been short-lived. They had eventually found something about Lowell House and had headed over to Genevieve Holt's home to ask some questions. Man, had that been a crazy obsessive religious lady. Joyce made a note that if she ever saw her in the street she would make an effort to cross to the other side of the road to avoid her. To have so badly treated those children that their repressions, fears, hate, everything had manifested into a force of it's own….well, it was too awful to think about. 

Xander and Anya had hurried off to save Buffy's life. And Riley. Well, Xander hurried off to rescue- Anya just went along with Xander. Either way while they were gone she, Tara, Willow and Giles had summoned the spirits to help Anya and Xander save Buffy and Riley. It was the first time Joyce had ever done any kind of magic- up till then she had only ever helped with research, occasionally hitting vampires on the head with axes. She'd been the subject of magic spells before, with disastrous results, but actually being one of the people casting the spell was an entirely different experience. Tara had excellently led the entire thing but as she said the spell you could literally feel the energy she was calling from the Earth. It was when you finally got the true meaning of 'nature is all around you' and when the spell worked and Joyce felt Tara's words calling the spirits to them it was a rush unlike anything else.

Now though, after Buffy, Riley and the day were saved, they were exhausted and looked bedraggled and worn-out as they walked up to the front steps and opened the door.

The moment she heard the door opening Arlene jumped up. Joyce and Giles had both been gone a lot longer than either of them had claimed they would be. It was very late on and Arlene had been worried for a while. Catching sight of them as they walked into the hall and closed the front door, her worry didn't go away. They looked thoroughly exhausted. What did they do? _Battle_ college professors?

"Where the heck have you been?" Arlene asked in confusion taking in their opinion. Giles and Joyce looked at each tiredly, shrugged their shoulders wearily and walked past Arlene and up the stairs without a word.

* * *

"I'm sorry we didn't get to see more of each other," Joyce said sadly as Peter threw the last of his and Arlene's bags in the back of their car. 

"I know, but well you clearly had…." Arlene struggled to think of how to describe the events. Neither Joyce nor Giles had ever said what had happened to make them so late the night they went to the college to help Buffy but by the way they carried on the next morning making breakfast as though nothing over-exerting had happened, Arlene got the impression that things like that, whatever_ that_ was, happened a lot in their lives. "Had…things on" Arlene finished with a general phrase.

"Well it was a pleasure meeting you Arlene," Giles said and in stereotypically British fashion held his hand out for her to shake. She seemed to tut inwardly before she shook his hand and he looked at Peter, "And it was nice meeting you too Peter…though very little verbal communication was ever ventured" Joyce hid a snigger at Giles' comment and laughed even more so when she saw Peter's confused expression.

"Huh?" he asked.

"He says you two need to talk more next time," Joyce smiled as Peter just nodded in acknowledgement of the translation and nodded a silent bye at Giles before he got in the car.

"So, we'll have to do this again soon" Arlene said as she and Joyce hugged. It was an empty promise as it was in most families but it was tradition to be said. They would see each other again- it just probably wouldn't be for a very long time.

"Sure we will," Joyce agreed as they pulled apart smiling identical smiles. Arlene turned to Giles.

"By the way I never got a chance to say but- I liked your singing. It was very good"

"Why, uh, thank you," Giles said as Arlene winked at him with a friendly smile as she got in the car beside her husband.

They watched them drive off down the road before heading back inside and once the door was closed Joyce showed how happy she was with the way events turned out.

"Did you hear that?" she asked, "She complimented you."

"Yes, that was very nice of her," Giles agreed.

"That was her official seal of approval I think," Joyce laughed, "Which means you are the only person, besides Buffy of course, to ever receive it"

"I guess that makes me very special then doesn't it?" He joked and Joyce smiled before kissing him lightly on the lips.

"Yeah," she agreed, giving his hand a squeeze before heading into the living, "I mean she didn't even make that many snide comments about you all her stay either"

Giles nodded and then frowned as he took in what she said.

" 'Not many'?" He repeated following her into the living room, "_What_ snide comments?"


	18. New Moon Rising

Abryxis-thank you for the review. Glad you like the way I've been writing Joyce in (and thanks for the comments re the g/j relationshio as well) and there will be more off-episode chapters like the one where her sister visited.

zigpal-thanks for clappy reviewy goodness. and yes- I thought we saw enough of Riley and Buffy boinking each other in the original episode so I decided to go another way hehe. And yes shin-kicking- a trait passed through the generations. hehe.

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Kind of a short chapter this time round so sorry, but this chapter was kind of 'where are they' thing with their relationship and also it's sets everything up for the events in The Yoko Factor. So enjoy (and review ;-D)

* * *

By the way, since we're coming to the end of this season I wanted to let you know I have plans laid out for all of season 5, but wanted to ask do you guys want me to write it? I mean, would you like to read it? Coz I have no problem writing these, I'm addicted to them now haha, and I would write them to the very, very end but, you know, do you want me to? hehe

* * *

"Well that was a…tense moment," Joyce summarised holding the bowl of snacks while she sat on the sofa staring blankly at the coffee table as she went over the scene from just a short while ago where Oz had turned up on their doorstep.

"Quite," Giles agreed sitting down next to her and grabbing a few of the snacks out of the bowl. Joyce did the same and all that could be heard for a moment was the sound of the two munching away.

"It was just so sudden," Joyce continued thinking aloud, "I mean- the timing of it wasn't exactly perfect was it?" She kept thinking back to Willow's expression and how she clearly felt and then poor Tara ran off. It was just one big whole mess.

"No it wasn't," Giles shook his head, "Willow was just managing to get on with her life"

"And then to have…. just to turn up like that"

"Then again it could turn out to be a good thing…" Giles reasoned, "For Willow I mean" Joyce looked at Giles.

"_How?_" she asked incredulously.

"Well, he left her terribly I know, and of course they will have to work through that, but perhaps this what Willow wants. What Willow needs," Giles suggested looking to Joyce, "I mean maybe it isn't as dramatic as we all initially believed it to be and in fact Willow and Oz shall work things through and carry on…. well, carry on where they left off"

Considering Willow's recent orientation change Joyce highly doubted it.

"Oh I don't know…" Joyce shrugged setting the bowl down on the coffee table, "I mean they're both in very different places right now"

"Are they?" Giles sounded doubtful, "Willow's not had any other…. relations since Oz's departure. I even heard Xander say that she hasn't a boyfriend"

"No boyfriend, no" Joyce murmured comfortably picking up the half-eaten bowl of snacks and taking them into the kitchen. She had figured out the true nature of Willow and Tara's relationship a while ago, but it seemed that no one else had been as intuitive and as the couple hadn't actually announced their…coupledom Joyce didn't want to spill the information before the two girls wanted anyone to know.

After emptying the bowl she threw into the sink of water along with the other pots and pans. As she began to wash them though she felt his hands slip around her waist and the warmth of his palms rushed through her body. She closed her eyes enjoying the moment and taking time to breath in everything about him. She her right hand over his left and took in how they felt under her palm. Everything, the feeling, the smell, the sight, everything about him made her feel unexplainably safe and she didn't know whether this feeling should make her feel happy or afraid. No one had ever made her feel this safe, this happy…this…complete and she was afraid she was losing control- becoming lost in it all. It would make it all the harder if he ever went away. But she knew deep down he wasn't ever leaving her and that made her feel all the safer. She craned her neck to look at him without turning around and their lips met in a romantic kiss. Their kisses had changed over time as well. There was still the passion that had been there at the beginning but more recently the kisses had been more romantic than anything. Slow and romantic. As though the two of them felt they had their whole lives together for kissing, for each other. And it was that feeling that both thrilled and frightened Joyce.

* * *

"Something's wrong" Buffy stated pacing the living room of her former home worriedly, "Riley usually returns my phone calls by now" 

"It's okay, the important thing is to remain calm," Joyce told her, putting her arms around Buffy's shoulders and Buffy nodded in agreement.

"I know, I know"

"But we can't wait much longer" Xander pointed out.

"I know," Buffy admitted before wearing resolve face as a plan formed in her mind, "Okay me and Xander- we're going in. We've done it before"

"I'm going with you," Willow announced and none of them missed the seriousness of her voice.

"No, look, it's too dangerous Will" Buffy argued, "Besides I need you to help Giles hack into the city's electrical grid. We've gotta try to power down the Initiative."

"Giles can do it without me," Willow argued, "I can show him exactly what to do"

"And I may not be exactly Willow's level of computer literate," Joyce said, "But I do work with computers a lot at the gallery - I could help"

"See?" Willow said to Buffy, "I-I can't just sit here Buffy, I can't."

Buffy looked around at everyone as they all had offered to make it possible for Willow to go along.

"Okay, okay you can back us up," Buffy agreed, "Now the only way I know into the Initiative is through the elevator in Lowell House. But my clearance is long gone"

"So we grab a guy, make him take us," Xander posed a plan and Buffy went to agree that it was their best chance when a voice stopped her.

"Or you could just use the back way" They all turned round to see Spike lounging casually in the doorway. "Hell of a lot less bother"

"How did you get in?" Joyce asked him and he smiled slyly.

"Once a vampire's invited they are always free to come in" he told her and she shook her head indicating that's not what she meant.

"No, I mean literally how? We didn't hear the door open or close…and then you're stood there"

Spike looked back at the door and then faced the group again. To the door, to the group and did it a third time as though wondering himself how he had achieved it.

"Vampire never reveals his secrets, love," Spike told her with a wink.

"What do you want Spike?" Buffy asked with a bored sigh.

"Well if that's how you gonna be you can forget it" he told her walking back to the door. As he put his hand on the door handle he turned back to the group, "I _was _gonna help red here get her boy back but if-"

"Spike," Buffy said his name in an impatient tone that suggested for the good of his own well being he had better start co-operating.

"Alright," Spike relented heading back into the living, "I happen to know how to find the big guy that can take you to Oz"

* * *

Anya had wanted to use the computer- she could have done it. She'd seen Willow hacking into things often enough. But they hadn't let her- claiming a 42-year-old art gallery owner would be more competent on the computer than Anya the 1100-year-old ex demon. So while Joyce sat on the sofa next to Giles, working away on Willow's laptop, Anya stood up, tapping her foot occasionally to fully show her annoyance. 

"Are you even halfway there yet?" She asked and received an impatient look from Giles for her trouble.

"We are trying to Anya, if you would just stop repeatedly asking questions," he told her and Anya sighed in annoyance.

"If you had let _me_ do it we'd probably be already finishing up," She grumbled to herself.

"Try typing in X-H-4-J-7," Giles told Joyce, choosing to ignore Anya's ramblings and Joyce typed in the code, "That covers the entire electrical grid for the university and outlying area" As Joyce entered the code into the system the lights in the house went out and the three were left in complete darkness.

"Well…erm…that worked," Joyce concluded.

"Yeah, now we can't see where we're going-ow" Anya complained, walking into the edge of the wall. Thinking it was no longer safe to be stood up until the lights came back on; Anya felt her way to the armchair and flopped into it.

"I'll get a flashlight," Joyce said getting up.

"And I think we have some candles somewhere," Giles added, standing up also. Eyes not yet adjusted to the darkness the two didn't realize they were heading in contradicting directions and they bumped directly into each other.

"Oof!" Anya heard Joyce say as she heard the collision and she smirked.

"That's genius," She told them sarcastically, but neither retorted.

As Giles collided into Joyce, they almost knocked heads they walked into each other so closely and yet he still couldn't see her. Almost instinctively, he found her lips with his own and soon the two of them were kissing in the darkness, flashlights and candles forgotten as they sat back down on the couch simultaneously, never breaking the kiss.

Anya rolled her eyes.

"I can hear that!" She told them but they didn't stop so she stood up in protest, "That's it. I'm leaving" She headed for the front door, but unable to see where she was going, she tripped over a side table. She decided she needed a safer destination, "I'm leaving…for the dining room," She corrected herself and went to take a seat at the dining room table. Anya didn't mind talking openly about sex- just as long as it was _her_ sex and not anyone else's.

* * *

"Hello? Anyone waiting in the dark, dark room?" Xander called as he stepped into the house that had recently become Scooby central, on Revello Drive. The day had yet again been saved and he had just helped Buffy set Riley up in the charred remains of Sunnydale High School, but the lights were yet to come back on. 

"Xander!" He heard Anya exclaim and she charged into him, hugging him tightly.

"I'm so glad you're here," she told him a smile in her voice, "I've been sat here in the dark all alone with _no_ one talking to me because those two are busy getting horizontal on the sofa." She whined

"Huh-_ what_?" Xander made a mental note not to look in the direction of the living room, "Wait-all this time? Seriously? In the living room?" He sensed rather than saw Anya nod. "Well, erm Willow is talking to Oz, Buffy is talking to Riley so we are free to go…do some….'talking' ourselves"

"Really?" Anya grinned suggestively even though no one could see it, as she took Xander's arm. They had taken one step towards leaving when the lights flooded back on lighting up the rooms brightly and causing them to blink their eyes in pain.

"Oh!" Xander really wished Joyce hadn't let out the surprised 'oh' at the lights turning back on as it caused to him to look over in her and Giles' direction. Just as Anya had guessed they were certainly horizontal. Joyce was lay on her back on the couch with Giles on top of her and they were both now looking in Anya and Xander's direction as though only just remembering there might be other people in the room. Giles could quite easily see that both Anya and Xander were stood watching them in stunned embarrassment and it understandably made him immediately self-conscious. Joyce however, being on her back, couldn't quite see and had to crane her neck over the end of the sofa to look at Anya and Xander upside down. Xander wished she wouldn't. Her hair trailing off the end of the sofa due to gravitational pull only emphasized the fact that she and Giles weren't sat up on the couch a mile apart, as all adults should be.

"You're meant to be adults," Xander complained suddenly, breaking the awkward silence, "_We're_ the teenagers"

"Well, the lights were off…" Joyce reasoned, biting her lip nervously and Xander just tutted in overly dramatic disgust.

"Buffy would be shocked and horrified," He scolded them before taking a hold of Anya's shoulders and leading her out the door. Once he was gone Joyce and Giles looked at each other, biting back laughs.

Xander walked back in again but looked in the direction of the dining room so he wasn't looking at the couple as he spoke.

"And by the way some things still aren't buttoned," he told them before walking out again. He came back a third time, "Shame. Feel shame" he told them before leaving for a final time.

* * *

A few days later Joyce got off the phone with Buffy who was presently in L.A with Angel. And apparently, as the update had informed her, with Faith also. Faith. Hadn't seen her since…well since the confusion. And now she was in L.A. Just a drive away. 

"Buffy's found Faith in L.A," Joyce stated as Giles came into the room.

"Really? Well, that should be a, uh, interesting meeting of minds," he commented.

"I'm going to go there"

"What?" He asked looking at Joyce in confusion.

"To L.A, when Buffy comes back from L.A I'm going to drive up there myself," she elaborated, "I need to talk to Faith"

He looked, immediately understanding where this was all coming from and why she had to see Faith.

"Do you want me to come with you?" He asked and she shook her head.

"No, you, uh, you need to here helping Buffy with Adam," she told him, "And I think this is kinda one of those alone things." She told him with a little smile; "I have to do this myself" He nodded in understanding, but couldn't hide the fact he was worried. He knew Joyce had to see Faith, to deal with what had happened, but Faith was clearly not to safest person to be around and Giles wasn't entirely happy about Joyce going visiting alone and he just hoped Angel, as much as he had a grudge against him a lot of the time, would look after her.


	19. The Yoko Factor

zigpal- thank you and well, you'll see there was some very Joyce-ish changes to this episode. And as regards to season 5- don't worry I'll be writing it hehe, but also don't worry about it cutting off in The Body. Joyce will _not_ be dying. Be a bit too tragic ending for the couple don't you think? I mean we need _one_ happy couple here don't we? hehe. But I actually have a storyline already planned out to change those events. Also like you said- I need the clappage. haha.

g120-thanks for the review (had to read it twice though! haha!) glad you gusta-d the chapter. hehe. and in a _mucho_ way. ;-). And yes, as I said to Zigpal I will be continuing with season 5 now. I of course will continue all the way through to season 7 as long as you guys keep reading. And yes- meeting the relative is a big step but tis kinda hinting at what will happen in the future for the two of them...

keykay1- hey thanks for the review, happy you're liking it. I know- I've been more quick with updating this than any other story I wrote. Haha. I'm just so addicted. **..::shameful face::..**

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Well- this is a big step for me. My First Angel Crossover. Argh. Hehehe. Also, I think I went more into Faith's story than I actually initially intened. But I think it turned out okay and hope you like it. Enjoy ;-)

* * *

"Well I for one can sleep easier now knowing _she's_ behind bars." Cordelia said to Wesley as she sat lounging in a chair in the office, "Strong, strong, _unbreakable_ bars" 

"Cordelia," Wesley smirked, "You know she did change…. eventually"

"Yeah, 'eventually' after killing and maiming lots of people- one of which was, need I really remind you, was _you_" Cordelia rolled her eyes, "What? Are you all just smitten with Faith or something?"

"She's paying for her crimes now, you can't possibly ask anymore of her" Wesley said although he admitted to himself that originally he had wanted Angel to give up on the slayer and toss her away, but the way she confessed to save Angel showed that Angel had been right- and Faith was working to make things better. Maybe they never would be, but she was trying.

"Hmm…" Cordy sounded unimpressed, "And I knew he'd go after her"

"Faith?"

"No- Buffy," Cordelia corrected him, "One _little_ tiny fight and he runs off after her back to little ole Sunnydale to apologize. I mean for a vampire he's got very little backbone when it comes to that little blonde"

Before Wes could reply the sound of a knock on the door to the room interrupted them and they turned to see Joyce stood in the doorway.

"Hi"

Cordelia rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"One Summers leaves just as another arrives," she complained, "It's like a vicious circle"

Joyce frowned at the comment wondering what it was supposed to mean by that but she shook it aside.

"I know I probably shouldn't have walked all the way in," she admitted, gesturing to the fact that she was already in the building and at the office door, "It's just…well I wasn't quite sure where to knock." She laughed slightly as she admitted her confusion, "Actually I wasn't sure if this was the right place. It looked too much like some apartment block"

"Well it is," Cordelia told her, "Sorta. I mean Angel lives in the basement"

"Ah…where is Angel?" Joyce asked looking around as though expecting to find him skulking in the shadows.

"Oh he's gone back to-" Cordelia went to blurt out the recent Angel-Buffy events but Wes interrupted.

"He's got some out-of-town business to deal with," He wasn't sure how Joyce would react to recent events but he knew she wasn't a huge fan of Buffy's relationship with Angel so thought it better to keep the whole thing quiet for now.

"So, Wesley, you're working for Angel now?" Joyce asked and Wes nodded.

"Yes, actually, quite a turn of events,"

"And Cordelia as well," Joyce nodded, "It's like Sunnydale from Sunnydale in here"

"Tell me about it," Cordelia agreed with a roll of the eyes, "But this is just like an in between job for me," she assured her as though that had been what was on Joyce's mind, "Till I make it as an actress. Which _will_ happen," she glared at the two of them as though daring to contradict that fact.

"Sorry to be so frank Mrs…eh, Joyce," Wesley said, "But what _are_ you doing here?"

"Oh, well, erm, Buffy called just before she was heading back to Sunnydale and said Faith was here…in prison"

"Yes, that is true," Wesley nodded unsure of where she was going with this.

"Well, I came to see her…to talk to her,"

"Is _everything_ about Faith now?" Cordy asked in exasperation. When was she going to escape the little trampy slayer?

"Ah- you want to see her while she's in jail?" Wesley checked and Joyce nodded, "Why?" He sighed as he realized how blunt he sounded, "What I mean is, it seems a little…odd you coming up here to see _Faith_ of all people. Is there any particular reason?"

Cordelia leaned forward on the desk in interest.

"Yeah," she grinned, "Dish the dirt" Angel had never told her what Faith had done to Buffy, but perhaps Joyce would reveal all and then…. well, Cordy could shove it in Angel's face. In a friendly way of course.

Joyce laughed nervously as she got ready to retell the events that had occurred a few weeks ago.

"That…is a very long story," she told them

"Oh," Cordelia said and walked out of the room and Joyce wondered whether the information that it would take a while to tell had put Cordelia off listening, but it hadn't as Cordy came back a moment later with a plate of biscuit. She placed them on the desk and grabbed one to eat as she sat down.

"Carry on," she told Joyce casually.

* * *

It was twenty minutes later and all the biscuits were gone and now only crumbs littered the plate. 

"You were right," Cordelia concluded, "That _was_ a long story"

"And complicated," Wesley added as he frowned, trying to piece the information together in some order in his head so it would all make sense. "So _you_ were Faith?"

"Yes" Joyce nodded, feeling sympathy for their confusion.

"It was you Weatherby, Collins and Smith almost took to England? The Faith who _escaped_?"

"Yes- wait who are they?"

"They were the three members of the council ordered to, erm, deal with Faith" Wes explained.

"Oh," Joyce nodded in understanding, "Amidst their trying to kill me I didn't quite catch their names you see"

"Yes, quite," Wesley agreed, "We had some dealings with them ourselves rather recently- they weren't the most co-operative or nicest of people"

"Yeah," Cordy agreed, "Wesley injected one of them with a drug and everything"

"Really?" Joyce asked with what Wes could only describe as a look of approval.

"So this is the reason why you wish to speak to Faith?" Wesley asked and Joyce nodded.

"Yeah," Cordy contributed to the conversation, "I mean it's not another vengeance kick like Buffy had going on basically when she came up here"

"No, Cordelia," Joyce said patiently deciding it was better to ignore the comments about Buffy, "It's not. I just want to talk"

* * *

"What makes you think she'll listen to you?" Spike scoffed as he searched for some blood in Giles and Joyce's fridge. He found two packets. He took them both and closed the refrigerator door. 

"I'm her watcher," Giles answered simply and Spike raised one eyebrow at him in disbelief.

"I think you're neglecting the past tense there Rupert. I've seen the way she treats you"

"And how's that?" Giles inquired, waiting for Spike's answer.

"Very much like a retired librarian" Giles went to retort but Spike carried on, "Course shacking up with her Mum makes sure you're not completely out of her life though. The father thing going on. Course not many nineteen year olds listen to their Dads either, do they?" Spike sniffed in distaste at the lack of blood, but was just thankful there was at least some. He'd been running low lately. "Where is the lady of the house anyway? L.A so I hear"

"Yes," Giles nodded trying to ignore Spike's words of how Buffy saw him, but it was hard, "to speak to Faith"

"Didn't take you with her though did she?" Spike shrugged as though the information didn't bother him either way, but he had deliberately asked the question to dig the knife in.

"She said she wanted to go alone," Giles informed the vampire calmly, "And I understand that."

"Yeah," Spike nodded in agreement, but his voice said that he didn't entirely, "Guess she just doesn't need you. 'Spose if anything goes wrong she'll find someone else to help her out while she's there…like Angel or…doesn't her ex live there as well? See," Spike smiled, patting Giles on the shoulder, "No need to worry," And he walked out the kitchen door knowing what he had stirred up.

* * *

She could have drove to the prison herself. She had her car with her and she had lived in L.A for a huge period of her life so it wasn't like she didn't know where she was going. But she wasn't going alone. Oh no- Wesley and Cordelia were sat in the back seat. They both claimed it was for Joyce's own good, that perhaps meeting Faith would be dangerous and they should be there as back up. Or if it were a traumatic visit, which they claimed it was likely to be, they would be here to cheer her up. Joyce knew the truth though; they were nosy. 

"So," Cordelia said as they neared the prison, "you and Giles still together?" Joyce had mentioned Giles in her Faith-story retelling but Cordy had yet to confirm relationship status.

"Yes we are Cordelia," Joyce answered not taking sight off the road as she rolled her eyes at Cordy's curiosity.

"Ah yes," Wes said as though just remembering that Giles and Joyce had been involved when he was in Sunnydale, "Everything going well with that I suppose?" he asked and Joyce nodded with a smile- Wesley was as bad as Cordelia.

"Yes it is thank you, very well"

"So you're pretty close now huh?" Cordy asked leaning forward in her seat to prop herself up on the back of Joyce's. She knew that the closer Joyce and Giles got the more it would aggravate Buffy and the little high schooler part of her giggled with glee at the thought.

"I would have to say very close," Joyce answered, "Considering we're living together now"

"What?!" Wes and Cordelia asked in unison as they pulled up in the prison car park. Joyce killed the engine and undid her seat belt quickly as she stepped out of the car.

"I'll be back in a while," she told them.

"What? No," Cordelia argued, "You can't give us that little titbit of information and then _leave_. It's rude…it's not done in polite circles…it's bad manners…it's unfair…. it's going to kill me with curiosity."

Joyce smirked.

"I'll be back in a while," she repeated, closing the car door without another word and heading into the prison.

* * *

As the guard led her into the little room where Faith would see her visitor through a glass pane, she wondered who on earth the person who wished to see her could be. She guessed Angel- he was the only person still willing to talk to her, but when she finally came face to face with the visitor she saw it wasn't Angel. It was Joyce Summers. 

Faith's initial reaction was to run in the opposite direction- she couldn't face this woman now or ever she thought. But then Angel's words about starting with sorry came back to her and she took it upon herself to face the bad music and sit down. In synchronization with Joyce, Faith picked up the black phone that would allow the two to talk. She put the phone to her ear and there was silence. Just silence. For a long while.

"You know," Joyce was the first to speak and her voice sounded nervous, "I spent so much time planning to come visit you here that I haven't actually spent anytime thinking about what was going to say when I saw you"

More silence.

"I'm…. I'm sorry Mrs Summers," Faith murmured into the phone and Joyce looked at her in surprise. She hadn't expected Faith to actually apologize, for sure, but it was the first time she'd ever heard Faith call her Mrs Summers and it had been without a sneer in her voice. This girl was clearly feeling the weight of a thousand troubles and was trying to change.

"It's been hard for you hasn't it Faith?" Joyce asked and Faith shrugged.

"Prison isn't the comfiest place to be, no" she admitted but Joyce shook her head.

"No, not prison. Before that." Joyce corrected, "Before Sunnydale. Before becoming the slayer," Faith didn't say anything in reply. She didn't have to- her face said it all.

_Boxing day was just like any other day- boring and a constant reminder of the wreck Faith's life was. She lazed around on the couch in the dingy flat when her Mom finally tripped in after being gone without a word for seven days straight._

"_Well, wasn't it nice not having me around so you could enjoy your vacation?" she asked as though when she was around she was constantly pestering Faith to do her homework and not to be up too late. She wasn't, she didn't do all the things Moms were supposed to, but Faith was used to it. She had originally been one of those Moms. When Faith's Dad had been around but after he left the drinking started and then it was no longer 'my little firecracker' but 'my little waste of space'._

_She had her latest boyfriend with her, Gable. Faith had heard of Gable. He was the person even the hardest kids kept away from. He was pretty much into everything from drugs to murder. Her Mom passed out on the floor from the booze before she even had a chance to introduce the 'man'. Faith rolled her eyes in disgust, although by now she should be used to these occurrences, and stormed off into her room, closing her bedroom door behind her. _

_She'd only been sat on her bed a minute when the door opened and Gable walked in, closing the door quietly behind him and he came over and sat next to Faith on her bed._

"_What are you doing?" Faith asked in a suspicious tone with a hint of a threat to it. _

"_I wanted to give you a present," Gable replied and Faith's defences instantly went up at the use of the word 'present'. He reached into his leather bomber jacket and pulled out a small, velvet jewellery box and handed it to Faith who reluctantly took it._

"_Merry Christmas Faith" _

_Faith opened the box to find a pair of genuine diamond earrings. Faith just stared at them in awe._

"_Wow. Thanks a lot. These are really cool"_

"_Anything for you baby," he told her and leaned over to kiss her on the lips. She pulled away but he grabbed her harshly by the back of the head pulling her towards him, sliding along the bed as he tried to get on top of her. For a second Faith was in too much shock to do anything, but then the screaming kicked in and he put his hand over her mouth trying to shut her up and her violent screams became muffled._

"_What's wrong?" he asked as though what he was doing was perfectly normal. Through sheer desperation Faith managed to shove him off her and she ran to the other side of the room, next to the door._

"_You ever touch me again and I'll…" she threatened but fell short as she trailed off helplessly. _

"_And you'll what kid?" Gable taunted leaning back on her pillow, crossing his arms behind the back of his head lazily and grinning. "Tell your Mom? Get that queer friend of yours you go out with to beat me up?"_

_She wanted to pick up the lamp next to her and smash it over his head, but he was too large and too strong for her and she knew she didn't stand a chance so she grabbed her coat off the side and stormed out, intending to go over to her friend Tommy's. _

"And then after that," Faith carried on, "It wasn't long before I ran away from home, dropped out of school" Was she really here telling her life story to Buffy's Mom? Faith didn't like revealing her past. For someone to know your past made you vulnerable to them. But Joyce kept asking kindly, not prodding for information but just looking as though she wished to understand Faith better and Faith just found it all coming out. "I mean my councillor eventually caught with me. V was good at that. She sent me to this boarding house. Said my Mother wasn't fit to look after me. So she sent me to the boarding house from hell. It was worse than anything I could have imagined. Then with what I found in the attic…I mean I didn't even know about slaying then. I was terrified"

_Walking into the attic Faith saw a little boy chained against a wall._

_"Oh God," She breathed lowering her flashlight, "Are you okay?" _

_"Help me," he pleaded reaching his small, shackled hands out to her, "I'm so hungry"_

"_Don't worry," Faith assured him, "I'm going to get you out of here"_

"_Do you have the keys?" He asked quietly and hopefully and she nodded, heading over to him and that's when she saw who it was._

"It was Mrs Jones- you know the woman who ran the foster home- it was her son. He should have been his 40s anyway, but _she_ told me he'd _died_." Faith shrugged, "Of course he was a vampire. When he was finally free he charged at me, I stumbled pulling down a curtain and the vamp was toast. I didn't know what to think. Didn't think much of anything for a while. I went a bit nuts after that, didn't believe what I saw you know?"

"I know," Joyce nodded. She remembered how she had reacted when she first saw a vampire dusted.

"So needless to say me and Jess booked. Jumped from couch to couch for a good long while"

"What about your Mother?" Joyce asked in concern. The woman, according to Faith, had meant to be getting rehabilitation while she was at the Jones'. "Did you see her soon after?" She paused for a moment as she considered a harsh reality, "Or ever?"

"Oh I saw her again," Faith laughed ironically at the memory though there was nothing funny about it.

_It was near the corner of Washington and Kneeland in front of a strip club. Loud music poured out of the closed doors and the beat seemed to give a sinister hum to the crummy street. Faith looked around and saw a woman in a leather mini and a skimpy halter leaning into the passenger window and of a big blue Cadillac, offering herself up to the driver without reserve and Faith thought the figure looked familiar. It was as the woman climbed in the car and the light hit her face that Faith saw it was her Mother._

_Faith watched in shock as they drove off and sat down on the nearby stairs waiting for her to return. Her mother had looked like so many other zombie women that worked these streets- pale, thin, gaunt, glass-eyed. Empty._

"She was found dead a short time later. Just stretched lifelessly across the back seat of an abandoned car." Faith grabbed her head as though the memory physically hurt her. She looked at Joyce, "I used to have these anger black-outs you know? Something would get me wicked mad and then next thing I'd know everything was a mess and the person I was mad at was beaten to a bloody pulp. It happened with the dude with blue Cadillac. Next thing I know its psychiatric Faith. I was in a psych ward for a while and then Diane got me out"

"Diana? Who's Diana?" Joyce asked with a confused frown, wishing to know all she could.

"My first watcher." Faith told her, "She was the first person who ever actually looked after me. Cared about me. She was totally British- so much it was just funny…but yeah, she was great." Faith looked pensive for a moment and she seemed to be silently going through good memories with Diana. Faith smiled, "Of course she was like totally old so when she said she was training me as a potential slayer my first thought was 'I'm _so _gonna kick your ass', but well, that didn't exactly go according to plan," It was the first laugh from Faith that Joyce had heard. "I liked listening to her talk…she would just tell me stuff about her life and it wasn't like she was preaching like every other adult I'd met. She was sharing. She treated me like I wasn't just a high-school drop-out, but an actual person."

_"What about you?" Faith asked as she sat with Diana just talking. It was a laid-back atmosphere and Faith loved not having to worry about the fate of the world for a moment. Ever since she had become the slayer a week or so ago it had been nothing but fate of the world on her shoulder. Faith just wanted to be normal every now and then and this was it- just chatting, "Any studly guys in your past, British or otherwise?"_

_Diana smiled wistfully, recalling a fond memory before looking at Faith._

_"I almost married once," She admitted, "And yes, he was something of a rogue himself" she chuckled, remembering once again and Faith smiled as she listened to her retell the memory, "He was actually the reason I became a watcher in the first place. His Mother was a Watcher and it was always expected that he would continue in the family business, as it were." Diana smirked at Faith as though telling her she doubted being a Watcher could ever be classed as a family business in the same way as owning restaurants. "Besides, he was more than willing, approaching his studies with astonishing vigor, driven by the Council's mission. He'd always known exactly what his life's path would be. As a confused young girl, I envied that sense of purpose and I craved it" Diana smiled again warmly at Faith as though telling the slayer that he'd been let in on a secret and Faith, for the first time in her life, felt trusted and that she could trust that person in return_.

_"I get that," Faith said, understanding exactly how Diana felt when she was younger. She'd been there. Had been there until very recently when she had been given the purpose of Chosen One. "So what happened with the two of you?" She asked and Diana sighed sadly._

_"After the council brought me on board, our relationship…changed." She seemed to struggle to find a suitable choice of words, "He grew distant and eventually met another woman, whom he became engaged to and soon married. They had a son," She added the titbit of information, "Rupert, who is a watcher now as well, for the only other active slayer actually."_

_"Another slayer? How's that possible?" Faith asked with even more interest than when they had been talking about Diana's past._

_"Apparently she was brought back to life after a fatal injury"_

"And that's how I first heard about Buffy," Faith admitted with shrug, "Always wanted to meet B. A girl who survived being drowned. An impressive person to meet." Faith's smile then became a frown, "Then Diana betrayed me like all the rest. Cruciamentum she called it. I found out about it before it could happen so she cancelled the test, but I couldn't believe she would do something like that. It was like any time I got close enough to someone to trust them they just threw it back in my face" Faith became very sad and her voice broke slightly as she spoke and Joyce's heart went out to her, "She never wanted to hurt me though, I knew that. So I did forgive her and we were okay…but I didn't…I didn't even really get a chance to talk to her much after that…a vampire called Kakistos kidnapped her, used her as bait for me and when I arrived…" Faith seemed to choke, "God when I arrived…"

_Kakistos sat there as though he lorded over the underworld and Diana was lay across his lap, her body mangled and bloody, bite marks covering her. She had been half-drained but was still alive, but at the moment it seemed more of a curse than a blessing and he eyes widened in terror as she saw Faith._

_"Faith," She managed to whisper just before Kakistos used one of his sharp, cloven hands to rip a hole through her stomach, impaling her before he tore her open in two, ending her in a moment. Just gone._

_"Diana!" Faith managed to scream looking on the remains of her watcher in horror, the one person who had ever been anything in her life, trusted, loved her like a child should love it's parents and she was a broken, bloody, ripped carcass on the ground. Faith first felt sadness and horror but then it became anger._

_Faith charged at him, but two vampires grabbed her from behind, but she battered them away crossing her arms in front of her as she took two stakes out of her pockets . She was double fisting before she kicked one in the chest and staked the other squarely in the heart._

_The other punched her in the face but she rolled to the ground and was up again in a second as several of Kakistos' vampires surrounded her. As the anger rushed through her she wanted it now. Wanted their blood on her clothes, to feel their ashes cover her as she staked them one by one. She took the first one to come at her by his ears and ripped them away from his skull and he shrieked in pain. She loved the sound. The sound of his screams were dance music to her hears and she danced out of his way, gracefully swerving his punches as she staked him in the heart and got ready for the next one._

"I'd never fought like that before," Faith said into the black phone and Joyce listened sympathetically on the other end, looking at her through the glass window, "I enjoyed fighting vamps- doing something for the good guys for once- but I'd never lived for it like I did then. It's just I got so mad…" She trailed off as though horrified by her own actions even though it had only been vampires she had hurt then.

"It's understandable Faith," Joyce told her, "They hurt someone you loved very much."

"I know and that's that made me make that decision there and then"

"What decision?"

"That I was never gonna let anyone care for me again," Faith told her, "It was just too much if I lost them or if they betray you …or…it's just. Love just seems like an invitation for more pain. That's why it was so much easier with the mayor. He was what he was. He cared about me, but never hid the fact he was evil. Not like people do"

"People aren't evil Faith," Joyce said urging the girl to believe her. She'd been through so much and Joyce didn't want to have such a corrupt view of the world.

"Some are" Faith pointed out straight-forwardly.

"But not all," Joyce countered and Faith could hear the warmth in her voice. She looked directly at her.

"You've got it you know?" Faith said and Joyce thought 'got what' but she saw Faith was going to share again and she didn't want to break her off, prevent her from talking so she kept the question to herself and let Faith carry on without interruption. "He loves you. I could tell that much in a minute," Joyce didn't need to ask which 'he' Faith was referring to, "And B loves you obviously. But it's the others as well. They all see you as a Mom. You love 'em like they're your kids and they love you back like you're their Mother. Even that chick Xander's got is tuning into that no." Faith paused as she thought of something, "Course Xander's got _totally_ different things on his mind about you but-"

"Huh?" Joyce asked, interrupting despite her promise to herself as she questioned Faith's last comment worriedly, "What?" Faith was clearly lost in her own thoughts though as she didn't hear Joyce's questions and she carried on talking obliviously.

"But it's that whole thing right?" Faith carried on, "The family dynamic. You all need it; you all deserve it so you all have it. I never had it."

"So you didn't think you deserved it?" Joyce filled in, figuring out where Faith was heading.

"I think Diana was it." Faith told Joyce, "The closest thing to a family I ever had and it was torn away." She now looked at Joyce, making eye contact as though to make sure her next point would hit home, "Being you I felt that family thing…and being Buffy I felt what it was like to do good things again and I realized why B did it. Not because in return she gets the family thing with the great friends, she does it because she feels she has to, because it's the right thing to do and it's through that that she ends up with those things without even asking for them." Faith sighed as she realized talking through these things had made things so much the more clearer. So much for the psychiatrists who were trying to work through it with her. "And that's why I'm here now. I'm not doing it for any like congrats or 'well done you're doing the right thing'. I'm doing it because I _know_ it's the right thing to do." She smiled at Joyce slightly, "Buffy taught me that."

* * *

Cordelia and Wesley were getting impatient. Well, Cordy was getting verbally impatient but she knew Wes was feeling the same but just being all British and keeping it in. 

"Where is she already?" Cordelia asked as though Wesley would have the answer, "I'm bored and my curiosity is starting to get overwhelming."

"I'm sure she will be here momentarily," Wes assured her and Cordy sighed.

"She'd better be or I'm going to momentarily miffed."

Wes just rolled his eyes and chose not to answer as he looked outside the car window and saw Joyce coming across the parking lot.

"See, she's here now," He told Cordelia.

"Well it's about time"

"Hi," Joyce said as she climbed in the car, closing the door with a bang as she reached in her bag for her keys, "I think I'm all set"

"Well how did it go?" Cordelia asked bluntly as Joyce put the keys in the ignition.

"Well, everything makes a lot more sense now," Joyce told her as she pulled out of the parking space and drove out of the prison lot.

"You're gonna have to give me more than that," Cordy told her with an eager smile.

"Cordelia," Wesley reprimanded and she rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, like you're not wondering to," she said to him before looking back at Joyce again, "So, go on"

Joyce sighed as she realized Cordelia was expecting a step-by-step account.

"Well Faith is very, very alone," she said and she saw in the mirror Cordy give a look that said 'tell us something we don't know', "but I think perhaps that's what she needs right now. So far, people have been just another way for her to get messed up. Now, I think she has a chance" There was silence in the car for a moment as they drove on and Cordelia and Wesley thought about what Joyce had said. "You know," Joyce carried on, breaking the silence, "Faith said how lucky she thought Buffy was to have…to have a circle of friends like she has. And how tight they all are and that they can rely on each other….I'd never really overly-considered it before, but, well, I guess she is"

* * *

"Is that it?" Buffy yelled at her friend as she stood in her old living room. She sounded hurt and angry, but how else was she supposed to feel? Her friends were talking behind her back and then accusing her of doing the same. Giles was drunk and claiming she had no chance of defeating Adam. Everything she'd ever known was falling down around her, "Is that how you can help?" There was silence as neither Willow nor Xander answered. Buffy knew Tara and Anya were sat in the kitchen and would hear every word she said but she didn't care as she raised her voice in anger. "You're not answering me! How can you possibly help?" 

Again neither of he friends answered as they turned the heads away from her not looking at her at all. She watched them silently for a moment wondering where it had all gone wrong. They used to be such good friends. What had happened?

"So…" Buffy said to them sombrely, "I guess I'm starting to understand why there's no ancient prophecy about a Chosen One… and her friends."

And on that note she grabbed her jacket off the chair and headed over to the front door. As she opened it she turned back to them for a moment.

"If I need help, I'll go to someone I can count on." And with that she left, slamming the door behind her and Xander and Willow were left stood there in complete silence.


	20. Primeval

Rabidreject- Thank you very much for review. Glad you thought chapter was full of awesomeosity. hehe.

zigpal- yay more hand-clappin. and yah- I think that chapter was all Faith and Joyce hehe, but happy you liked it. And...well, you'll see what happens in this chapter as regards to the whole how everything turns out...

* * *

It was morning when Joyce arrived back home, having spent the entire day before in L.A. After visiting Faith in the prison she had spent some time with Wesley and Cordelia- a scene she never thought would occur in her lifetime. Wesley had changed though- he still had that pompous edge to him, but it wasn't anywhere near to what he had been like when he was living in Sunnydale. He had softened up a bit- become more human. Cordelia though had been practically the same Cordelia and shameful as it was to admit, Joyce enjoyed the comic relief. 

She had left shortly after Angel returned. He had been incredibly surprised to see her there. "This isn't about Buffy is it?" he had asked warily.

_"Why would it be about Buffy?" Joyce asked suspiciously, "Is there something for Buffy to be about?"_

"_Not exactly no," Angel replied carefully._

"_What do you mean 'not exactly'? Either there is or there isn't"_

"_No…I just went to check if Buffy was okay." He told her._

"_Why would she not be okay?"_

"_What is this? Twenty Questions?" Angel rolled his eyes, "We had a little disagreement and I went to apologize."_

"_Hmm…" Joyce accepted the reason unhappily, but didn't ask any more questions._

"_Wait," Angel said as something occurred to him, "What are you doing here?"_

"_Oh she came to find Faith," Cordelia explained._

"_What?" Angel turned on Joyce, "You didn't go on the attack did you like Buffy? She's recovering and she doesn't need-"_

"_No I bloody didn't!" Joyce told, outraged that he would suggest that, "I just came to talk to her."_

_Angel seemed to visibly calm down and he nodded in acceptance._

"_Ah…because of the swap thing?" He asked and she nodded, "Yeah, Buffy told me about that." He paused and looked at her in confusion, "Since when did you start using the phrase 'bloody'?"_

_Joyce sighed as she realized what she'd said._

"_Oh…" She said in exasperation, dropping her head in her hands for a second before looking back at Angel, "It's Rupert's bad influence"_

"_They're living together now," Cordelia informed him with a smile as though this was the information Angel was dying to hear._

"_Oh," Angel said quietly with a little nod, "That's very nice"_

"_Thank you," Joyce smiled and they fell into polite conversation followed by polite silence. Shortly after, Joyce had left._

Walking into her house, the first thing Joyce noticed was how eerily silent the place was. She looked around briefly and saw no one was in the ground floor rooms.

"Rupert?" She called out warily, but there was no answer. Cautiously she started to walk up the stairs.

She didn't know what she expected to find, but considering her daughter was a slayer and the odd, supernatural ridden lives they all led, she wasn't expecting something normal. As she reached the landing she automatically peered into her and Giles' room and did a double take as she saw Giles splayed out on their bed apparently in some sort of pain. She ran over to him about to ask him if he was okay, when she saw that he looked fine- just very, very groggy. It was then that everything clicked.

"Oh my god, are you…_drunk?_"

"No," Giles denied managing to sit up, but barely, "Yesterday I was drunk. Today I seem to be suffering from an insufferable hangover"

She went to ask why on earth he was drunk when a knock at the door stopped her. She looked at Giles, who lay back down on the bed in pain and she rolled her eyes in disgust at him before heading downstairs to answer the door.

It was Willow and Tara.

"Oh h-h-hi M-Mrs Summers," Tara smiled sweetly and nervously, "You're b-back from your trip."

"Yes, just now actually," Joyce said, "And just Joyce is fine. These lot haven't called me Mrs Summers since High School," Tara smiled again with a little shy nod and Joyce smiled back at her- she was such a sweet girl.

"I just came to pick up my laptop and disks," Willow told her and Joyce could feel the tension building. Something had happened while she was in L.A. Clearly. She stepped aside to let Willow and Tara in and they headed into the dining room where the laptop sat on the table.

"Did something happen while I was gone?" Joyce asked, following them into the room. "I mean Rupert's gotten himself drunk and I can't help thinking that there's something off here as well and-"

"It was nothing," Willow immediately told her as she picked up the laptop and headed the disks to Tara for her to carry, "It was just a little tiff"

"Willow I don't think you're being entirely-"

"It was nothing. It's fine," Willow repeated and left with Tara before Joyce could ask any more questions. Joyce stood there thoroughly unconvinced by Willow's claims of 'everything was fine'. Was it something to do with Adam? Something had happened- that much was clear so Joyce grabbed her keys and headed out to find the one person that could possibly clear everything up- Buffy. As she left she went to tell Giles where she was going, but considering his current state she gave up on the idea and just left.

* * *

As Buffy walked along the dorm corridor she kept going over Spike's words in her head. _"Can't ignore valuable information just 'cause you two birds fell out, can you?"_

She hadn't mentioned a single word about the argument with Willow and the others, so how could Spike have known? Unless…. he had something to do with it. He had been in Adam's caves- he acted as though he didn't know but it was suspicious. Spike was very careful about where he went ever since he had been caught by the Initiative earlier on in the year. He could be working with Adam- it was a typical Spike thing to do. Which meant the whole thing had been stirred up. A slayer without her friends would be a lot easier to take down. God, it was all making sense now and Buffy cursed herself for falling for it as she arrived at her dorm door. Her Mom was stood there waiting for her to turn up.

"Mom, what are you doing here?"

"Buffy, what the hell has been going on around here?" She asked as she and Buffy walked into the dorm room, closing the door behind them. "I come back and Rupert's got a severe hangover, Willow doesn't seem comfortable even being at my house anymore and Tara seemed even more awkward than she is usually. _What_ is going on?"

"It's Spike," Buffy told her but her Mom just looked confused, "He set us all up. Stirred it, made us have one hell of a fall-out. I think he wanted us to be split up in time for Adam to make his move"

"What? How could he-"

"I think he's working with Adam." Buffy told her as she headed to the phone on the bedside table, "Probably some deal he struck with him. Something like I help you and you don't stake me" She picked up the phone and looked at her Mom, "Plan's been foiled though. He slipped up. I'm gonna call Xander and Willow. You get Giles and get him to the campus near the posting board outside. Kay?"

Joyce nodded in agreement and left while Buffy dialled Willow's number.

* * *

"You know, I don't think I'm quite up to this." Giles said as he and Joyce walked across the campus. 

"That may have more to do with your self-inflicted hangover rather than how you feel about the situation," She pointed out.

"No," He shook his head denial, "It's not. I'm not needed in the group, not anymore anyway. They're always going off doing their own thing without even consulting me and they do fine. No one really needs me." She stopped walking and he stopped as well since the only thing making him head in that direction was Joyce.

"I need you," She told him.

"No, no, no," He argued calmly, "You _like_ me-"

"Love" She corrected.

"Fine- you love me but you don't actually _need_ me. There is a difference" Joyce was tempted to slap him out of his self-pity. Instead she sighed patiently and she moved to stand directly in front of him so he was forced to look her in the eyes.

"No there's not," She told him, "Whether it's want, need or whatever word you decide to use it still _all_ applies. I can't not have you in my life anymore." He was looking at her properly now instead of just staring at her blankly as he lost himself in his own self-pity, "You are in fact the first man that when I think to the future I actually see you there. There's no maybe or maybe not, no play it by ear, no it-depends- I _know_ you will be there because…because you have to be" As she looked at him she thought she saw something click in his mind, a moment of realization perhaps, but she wasn't sure what. He remained silent though so she carried on talking, "I need you as much as I _hope_ you need me"

"Of course I need you J-"

"Well, then there's no issue is there?" She asked him with a smile before kissing him, passing the smile on, "And you should know not to listen to Spike" She told him as they started walking again. He paused and she looked to him wondering what had made him stop again.

"What?"

"How did you know it was Spike that talked to me?"

"He's spoken to you all Rupert," She explained, "Buffy figured it out. He's been stirring, playing you all to-"

"Split us up," Giles sighed in realization, "I am very stupid"

"Perhaps," Joyce shrugged with a smile, "But in a cute way" She gave him a light kiss on the lips to emphasize the point. "Now come on, we've gotta meet the others"

* * *

After working things through on the college campus, the group had finally come to realize how Spike had messed things up and why and within moments they were back to working as a team. However, none of them could shake off the feeling that some of what Spike had said was true, but they didn't let on to others and carried on as though there were nothing at all wrong. 

They were back at Revello Drive and sat in the living room, numerous texts and legal pads filled with notes covering every surface that someone wasn't sat on. Willow sat on a chair writing down what she knew from the decrypted discs while Xander sat on the arm of the same chair reading a book he had randomly grabbed out of the pile- but nothing of use had come from it yet. Giles was sat on the sofa alone except for the piles and piles of things around him none of which were helping any with the situation with Adam. Buffy didn't sit. She paced behind the chair her Mother was sat in, as she went over everything they knew again and again in her head, hoping there was something she hadn't realized yet that could help them.

"We've certainly no lack of supplies," Giles said looking at everything around them, "I just wish we knew which ones would kill Adam"

"Well," Joyce debated putting down the book she had been reading through. It was useless. All of it was really she realized. Nothing like Adam had ever existed before. "He doesn't seem to be affected by much at all. Except those…those initiative guns?" She looked around at everyone for confirmation and at Buffy's nod carried on talking, "But they give him a boost rather than…well, killing him"

"So we know what we _shouldn't_ use just not what we should," Buffy stated with a resigned sigh.

"What did Riley say his power source was?" Xander asked, hoping there would be some solution in that.

"Uranium core," Buffy answered, "Embedded somewhere in his chest." She sighed again feeling completely at a loss, "I just don't know how we're gonna defeat him. This is the first time I've ever felt completely powerless" She didn't like the feeling at all.

Giles looked around hopelessly at all the texts in front of them all. There must be an answer in one of them, something that they had previously overlooked. He glanced around for a text he had not yet read to death and spotted one on the far side of the coffee table just out of his reach.

"Joyce," He said seeing she could reach it easily, "would you pass me that book of marriage?"

She immediately looked up over at him sharply her eyes widened in shock as everyone else fell into a shocked silence. Even Willow stopped writing as her pen froze on the page and her eyes just stayed focused on her notes.

"Pardon?" Joyce asked.

"D-d-do you want to pass me that book of spells? Spells" He repeated the word to convince everyone that was what he had in fact said as he reached out for the out-of-reach book. Had he really said 'marriage'? He cringed inside. He hadn't planned to. Hadn't even been consciously thinking the word. It had just come out. Oh god, why did he say it? He had intended to say 'spells', but it had come out…why did he? Maybe it was all this staring-death (Adam)- in the face thing. Without any way to stop Adam there wasn't much hope and perhaps in that his subconscious…well it had been said now and he just hoped Joyce's reaction wouldn't be too awful…or that perhaps she would choose to ignore it. But did he want her to ignore it? Yes, yes he did. It was better that way. Wasn't it?

"That's _not_ what you said," Joyce insisted, acutely aware of the deathly silence in the room as she looked intently at Giles not sure whether she wanted to have heard right or not.

Willow was looking down at her legal pad as though it would be intrusive to watch the couple, while Xander couldn't have cared less about how much he was staring as he watched the conversation play out in anticipation. Buffy however had stopped pacing in shock when she heard Giles' words and was now stood, gormless, in the middle of the room watching them. Giles cleared his throat.

"Do you want to uh…?" He gestured at the book in question, indicating for her to pass it to him. She sighed with a slight smile.

"I do," She said picking up the book and leaning over to hand it to him. As he grabbed a hold of the book she didn't let go and he was forced to look straight at her despite how uncomfortable he felt. "And…I will," She added, smiling. As he took in what she had said and what her words meant he couldn't stop staring at her.

"W-was that…did, did y-you-" He stuttered unable to form actually words as he continued to stare at her smiling face.

"Was that a marriage proposal?" Xander asked filling the blanks as he looked around at everyone.

"An _ac-cept-ed_ marriage proposal!" Buffy exclaimed in utter shock and disbelief playing out every syllable of the word 'accepted' as she continued to stare at the couple, both of which were still looking at each other and holding the book, as her jaw dropped open wide.

"Nothing like an apocalypse to bring two people together," Willow smiled as Giles and Joyce kissed romantically over the book each of them still held. Eventually the two of them broke the kiss.

"Well, ah, yes," Giles said as Joyce let go of the book they both held, crossed the room and cleared some space on the cluttered sofa to sit next to him, "We'll talk-"

"…About it when life as we know it hasn't ended?" She filled in with a smile and he nodded with a slight laugh.

"Yes, uh, something like that"

Buffy watched the two researching together. They were smiling quite a lot and seemed very beamy despite the whole we-could-all-die sitch they were all facing. After a moment Buffy headed over to Willow, sitting on the arm of her chair that Xander wasn't sat on. She gave both of them a look that clearly said 'please understand what I'm thinking'.

"So…?" Willow asked and Buffy smiled.

"It's great…it's uh really great…" She trailed off.

"I sense a but from the Buff Meister" Xander said looking at her and Buffy shrugged at them both.

"But I don't have to like start calling him 'Dad' now do I?"

Willow frowned a moment at Buffy before realizing her friend was joking around. It showed how very far Buffy had come since over a year ago when she had first found out about her Mom and Giles when she had been pretty much 'I'll deal but I'm not happy'

"Oh you're joking," Willow commented and Buffy nodded with a smile.

"Yeah, check me out making with the funny whilst facing imminent death"

"Yeah…" Xander agreed thoughtfully, "It's like High School all over again"

"What about magic?" Willow asked.

"Huh?" Buffy frowned in confusion. What had magic to do with High School? Well actually it was a lot in their case but that was beside the point.

"Oh sorry," Willow shook her head, "I was back on the Adam situation. We could use some sort of uranium extracting spell?" Everyone including Joyce and Giles looked at her silently and she sighed in defeat, "Okay I'm reaching"

"You might be on the right track though Willow," Giles, told her, "Perhaps we could use a paralysing spell" He looked through the book that contained the spell, "Only I can't perform the incantation for this"

"Right," Willow agreed, "Don't you have to speak it in Sumerian or something?"

"I do speak Sumerian, it's not that," Giles told her, "Only an experience witch can chant it and you'd have to be within striking distance of the object"

"See what you get for taking French instead of Sumerian," Xander playfully reprimanded Willow tapping her on the shoulder.

"It's a shame you can't like speak through Willow or something like that…" Joyce said, "but then while she's saying the spell Adam could well…you'd kinda need Buffy"

"That's it then!" Xander said jokingly, "We just mix 'em all together- combo Buffy. Slayer strength, Giles' multi-lingual know-how and Willow's witchy power" Giles just looked at him and Xander shrugged, "I know," He said sarcastically, "I'm just _full_ of helpful suggestions"

"As a matter of fact you are" Giles told him and Xander raised his eyebrows in genuine surprise.

* * *

"I just want you all to be careful," Joyce told them all as they started to walk out the door. It felt surreally like she was just sending them off to an office job and she was merely checking if they had packed their lunches rather than 'and have you packed your weapons?' 

"Don't worry Mom- we're not big fans of the whole not-coming-home-alive"

"Hey," Xander said a thought occurring to him, "When we come back will there be congratulatory pie?"

"If you have all limbs yes," Joyce nodded, only half-joking.

"Now _that's_ incentive," Xander told everyone, "Come on people- we have some pie to earn." And he headed off down the front path.

"_You_, though, have a different incentive," Joyce told Giles and he smiled as she reached up to kiss him warmly on the lips. Buffy rolled her eyes as the two of them got into it.

"Come on you," She said, grabbing Giles' arm so him and her Mom were forced to break apart, "We've got a world to save"


	21. Restless

Rabidreject- Thanks for review and well season 4 doesn't quite wrap up with this chapter as I've got a post-restless thing to add. And I atch already have plans for season 5- and yes, true things are getting very complicated. hehe. Glad you're looking forward to it

g120- Yes...damn those explosions on the telly...hehe. And glad you thought the proposal was in character- I thought so when I was writing it- and also romantic. It was actually loosely based on life events... So I had inspiration ;-) Very happy you liked it though and thanks for the review.

zigpal-Thank you for the review and, as always, the claps. :-D and yes, big bads always seem to bring out the best/romance in people. haha. And you know what J is promising G...hehe. ;-) and as requested here are the crazy dreams haha.

* * *

A/N: This is actually not the last chapter for season 4. I have one more added post-Restless episode which should be up soon and then it will be onto Cocorific: Season 5 (Hands up who guessed the name? Haha)

* * *

They'd been gone such an awfully long time and all she could do was sit here. And worry. She knew they were okay she couldn't afford to think anything else. But she just kept glancing at the clock and minutes seemed to take hours to pass. She needed to focus on something else. There was nothing she could do right now and thinking on it and worrying would only make the whole thing worse, so she needed to focus on something entirely different.

Marriage. It wasn't something she had ever considered to do again. Had ever wanted to do again. The whole thing had gone so wrong the first time round that she just didn't ever think she could face going through it all again. And yet, she had said yes. To a proposal that hadn't really been asked. It was so like him just to have it blurt out, no planning at all. For it to just happen. His reaction to it had been so typical as well. The stuttering, British stereotype in him coming out. All things she loved about him. When she thought on it, she realized it was no wonder she had said yes.

She was just lost in it, the whole relationship. So much so she sometimes had to take a step back and say 'is this really what's happening to me? Is this really going on in my life?' She thought back to a year and a half ago when it had all began. First with the candy and then with the talk in the library the following week…their first date. Then it had just been a lets-see-where-it-leads thing. And now 18 months later and it was so much more than that. She would have never have thought this would have happened. Marriage. It sounded so romantic- so out-of-place in their all-too-harsh lives. Then suddenly practicality set in. Marriage meant weddings. Weddings meant planning. Planning meant invitations and seating plans. Invitations and seating plans meant relatives. Relatives meant hell on this earth. Although for once it would be a metaphorical hell. Joyce shook the practical concerns aside. She would just focus on the positive- and a wedding could be a positive. Could definitely be a positive if she could stop being so realistic and practical for once. Side effect of being a Mother she supposed.

A sound at the door drew her out of her thoughts and she immediately jumped up out of her seat and headed into the hall just as the four of them along with Riley came trailing in looking more than a little worse for wear, but otherwise fine.

"Oh thank god, you're all okay," She said looking them all over just to double-check, "And Adam?"

"Is history" Buffy told her before pausing in consideration, "Or possibly non-existent if the government has their way"

Joyce gave both Willow and Xander quick hugs once she had checked they were in a perfectly okay condition, before giving Buffy a very tight, relieved hug. Buffy looked sideward to Riley during the hug.

"This is the thank-god-you-didn't-die-again hug," She explained and Riley nodded in mock seriousness.

Over Buffy's head Joyce caught Giles' eye and the two smiled at each other as he walked over. While still hugging Buffy, her daughter being smaller than either of them, she leant over her to kiss Giles and the moment she did Buffy wiggled out from the hug and headed over to Riley.

"That's my cue to leave," Buffy announced as she watched her Mom and Giles barely notice she had walked away as they drew closer to each other, closing the gap between them and haben der uber big smoochen in Buffy's opinion. Buffy looked away and looked to Riley. Riley was still looking at the couple however.

"Whoa- what's with them?" He asked as they were still kissing, "I mean I know they're pretty close but…"

"Ah, but earlier on today before our big Adam battle," Buffy explained, "There was marriage proposal-y goodness."

"Really?" Riley asked looking over at the couple as Buffy nodded, "Well erm, uh, congratulations" He told them, but they barely heard him and he smiled nervously as they finally realized he was saying something and they broke apart to look at him,

"Hmm?" Joyce asked.

"I just wanted to say congratulations on the, er, engagement,"

"Why thank you Riley, that's very sweet," Joyce thanked him. Riley looked down at Buffy.

"Well I'd better get going," He announced.

"Are you sure you'll be alright?" Buffy asked worriedly, "Cause I can be there in the morning" Riley shook his head.

"It's just a debriefing, they're not gonna make me disappear and they're not pinning anything on me. I've got Graham and a lot of other guys testifying I'm the reason they're alive. I might actually get out of this with an honorable discharge"

"In return for your silence no doubt," Giles commented and Riley shrugged in agreement.

"Oh yeah, having the inside scoop on the administration's own Bay of Mutated Pigs is definitely an advantage"

"It's like you're blackmailing the government," Willow commented cheerfully as she returned from the kitchen with Xander, holding a bowl of popcorn and everyone looked at her, "In a patriotic way..."

"No it's not that…" Buffy told her, "When did you get popcorn?"

"Just now," Willow replied, "Me and Xan were working the microwave"

"Well you guys have fun tonight," Riley told them all as he went to leave, "I'll call you when it's over," He told Buffy, leaning down to kiss her. After they broke apart she opened the door for him.

"Bye," She smiled at him and he smiled back before heading down the front path. She closed the door behind him.

"Let the vid-fest begin," Xander announced holding up a bag of tapes.

"What? You had time to go to the video store already?" Joyce asked, but looked at Giles for an answer.

"Well," Xander replied, "I see no promised pie so we have to find our own kicks" he grumbled and Joyce gave him a 'whoops' look.

"Prevented apocalypses are always followed by vid-fests," Buffy informed her mother as she headed into the living room and everyone else followed. Joyce shrugged and decided to go with the flow as she headed in with Giles to sit on the sofa together. Buffy and Willow each curled up in a chair under blankets while Xander settled himself on the floor.

"Well, we've got plenty of vids," Xander told them, "But I'm putting in a pre-emptive bid for _Apocalypse now._"

Willow scowled in a disapproval and kicked him a little.

"Don't you have anything a little less heart-of-darkness-y?"

"_Apocalypse Now _is a gay romp!" Xander argued, "It's the feel good movie of…whatever year it was"

"It's not selling Xander," Joyce told him and he sulked.

"What else ya got?" Buffy asked.

"Don't worry," Xander told them all, "got plenty of chick-and-British-guy flicks too. These puppies should last us all night"

As Joyce curled up next to him, Giles put his arm around her as he waited to watch the film. He saw the FBI warning flash on the screen before sleep enveloped him.

* * *

_He was at a fair. He could hear fair sounds. See fair sights. It was all about the fair. He walked hand in hand with Joyce as she pushed an empty pram and Buffy ran in front of them excitedly, dressed in overalls and wearing her hair in pigtails._

_"I wanna try this one! And this one! And this one!" Buffy announced pointing at one ride after another._

_"You'll get to try it all before we leave, I promise" Giles told her but Joyce looked on disapproving._

_"I don't think she should. She'll be tired out. So much at once. Sometimes the ride doesn't wait for us you know? She could get hurt." He nodded at her words and looked at the empty pram. She noticed him looking at the pram and so looked at it too. "It isn't going to big enough," she told him._

_"For who?"_

_"For the newborn silly," She laughed._

_"What newborn?" Giles asked in confusion, "Ours?" She shook her head._

_"No of course not." Again she laughed, but he didn't see her mouth move._

_"Yours?" He asked, but again she shook her head._

_"No…" she looked at him pleadingly, "But blood is always thicker than magick though isn't it?"_

_"Yes, I suppose so," He agreed and looked away to see Buffy trying to knock down a cardboard Dracula. She was failing miserably._

_"Buffy," He sighed in exasperation, "You have a sacred birthright to protect mankind. Don't stick out your elbow." Buffy tried again and successfully 'staked' the vampire and she looked at him with a wide smile. "I haven't got any treats," He told her sounding very unimpressed. _

_"Dad always did," Buffy pouted and he looked at her in silence as she ran off to get some cotton candy. _

_"You're monopolizing an awful lot of her time," Joyce told him with a frown as Buffy returned. He ignored Joyce and just looked at Buffy with disapproval._

_"Oh now you're gonna get that all over your face." He told her and Buffy turned around to face him, her face covered in mud. "I know you" He realized when he heard Spike's voice._

_"Hey!" He called from a crypt, "You're gonna miss everything!"_

_

* * *

He walked into the crypt and saw Spike stood there with a crowd surrounding him. He posed in front of them and the crowd was amazed. Buffy danced around him, posing next to him like a magician's assistant. _

_"I've hired myself out as an attraction," Spike told him. _

_"He's very good," Buffy bragged as Spike struck a threatening pose and the crowd oohed and aahed._

_"As a sideshow freak?" Giles asked as he looked behind him and saw Joyce sitting on a coffin waiting patiently for him._

_"At least it's showbiz," Spike pointed out, posing again and Buffy did a ta-da pose next to him._

_Giles looked back at Joyce again and he saw for a split-second the flashing image of a skull. He looked back to Spike who was still posing next to Buffy._

_"What am I supposed to do about this?" He asked the vampire._

_"Gotta make up your mind, Rupes," Spike told him, not even looking his wasy as he did a Jesus-on-the-cross pose. "Haven't you figured it out yet? You're gonna need help. Otherwise there's going to be chaos"_

_"I still think Buffy should have killed you," Giles grumbled and Buffy frowned._

_"Mom doesn't approve of that sort of thing," She told him and Giles turned away and found himself in his and Joyce's living room. Joyce was lay out on the sofa, her body pale and her eyes lifeless and unseeing._

_A flash of light._

_He was back in the crypt with Spike and Buffy._

_A flash of light._

_He was back in the living room, but Joyce was now lay straight out on the floor still as lifeless._

_He instantly ran over to her._

_"Joyce!" He knelt down beside her trying to bring some life back to her, "Joyce!"_

_"We're not supposed to move the body!!" He heard Buffy scream and he turned to see her stood in the doorway her eyes wide with shock, horror…she covered her mouth shocked by her own words. He instantly ran over and hugged Buffy tightly while Buffy looked on over his shoulder at the lifeless Joyce._

_Suddenly a man came up to him and tapped him on the shoulder. He was covered in cheese._

_"I wear the cheese. It does not wear me"_

_Giles frowned in confusion at the man when he felt a tap on his other shoulder and saw Joyce stood there, wearing the same clothes, as she had been when he had found her on the sofa a minute ago. He looked in the living room and Joyce still lay dead on the living room floor at the same as Joyce stood next to him. Spike walked in through the front door._

_"You see," He said to him, "You gotta make up your mind Rupes."_

_"Rules are like grass," Buffy told him, "Bending in the breeze"_

_Unable to think anymore Giles ran away from the group and out the front door, but instead of finding himself on his driveway he found himself at the Bronze where Xander and Willow were waiting for him._

* * *

Joyce hadn't meant to fall asleep. It was just everything was so warm and comfy and cosy and before long she had just given into it and was in a deep sleep and dreaming.

* * *

_She was in a graveyard at night. Just walking casually among the gravestones, occasionally running her fingers over the engraved names. She knew she was looking for something she just didn't know what._

_"You don't like this place do you?" A voice asked and she turned to see Ethan Rayne step out from behind a gravestone. The gravestone was blank and had no name carved in to it. _

_"No," Joyce agreed looking at the blank gravestone with a sad and pensive expression, "But it could be home"_

_They both looked in a far away direction and saw Buffy wandering in and out of the gravestones as though playing the childhood game of in-and-out-the-dusty-bluebells._

_"She shouldn't be here," Joyce said disapprovingly, "I told her I wanted to her to stay away and now look what's happened. It isn't her home"_

_"But is it really yours either?" Ethan asked and then there was silence. Joyce didn't answer him but just walked on through the graveyard._

_When she came to the border she stepped into a clearing lit up by bright lights. It was a fair ground. She saw herself pushing an empty pram as she walked with Giles with Buffy running ahead in front childishly._

_"For the newborn silly," Her other self was saying._

_Ethan walked up behind her as she watched herself. _

_"Your energy is still so strong m'dear," He told her, walking around her and she shrugged him away._

_"I don't want to talk about that now" she told him._

_"Neither do I, but its always there. A painful reminder for me. The ties that bind and all that," He scrutinized her, "You have so much energy…enough to create another I suspect." He took a step back, "Pure green energy" he commented._

_"Mine?" She asked though she felt she already knew the answer, as Ethan shook his head 'no'._

_"Your energy resists. Strong. The colors clash...as well you know...deep down." He walked so close to her she could feel him breathing in her hear as he whispered the words, "Compromise"_

_Joyce walked away from him, not looking back, and she found herself at Sunnydale Memorial. She walked along the empty corridors, not a soul was walking along them save herself, until she came to the maternity ward. She saw Tara looking through a glass window and walked over to join her. Looking through the window as well she saw several newborn babies in their cots. They were labelled Buffy, Willow, Xander, Anya and Tara. Joyce frowned at the missing names._

_"We really should find the other two" Joyce said to Tara, but Tara shook her head._

_"The other two don't need to be found," She told Joyce, "You can't find everyone." _

_They both looked back at the babies. One lay in a cot without a name and Tara seemed to notice that that was who Joyce was looking at._

_"We don't even know who she is," Joyce commented and Tara smiled slightly._

_"By sunrise she'll have a name" Tara told her with an assuring smile and Joyce nodded._

_"Of course"_

_"None of it will be easy," Tara said calmly as though she knew all the mysteries of the universe, "The changing loss"_

_"When?" Joyce asked urgently._

_"When the sky is the color of white, hot iron," Tara told her sadly as though she knew the pains all of them would face. This meant nothing to Joyce yet at the same time she felt she understood. She nodded at Tara who smiled back before walking off in the opposite direction._

* * *

_She was back in her own living room suddenly as she walked out the hospital doors. She saw Buffy and Willow each sat in chairs asleep, with Xander on the floor and Giles on the sofa- both of them asleep as well. They all seemed to be in incredible pain. She could see Xander had a chest wound right where his heart was, Willow seemed to be convulsing in pain as everything about her seemed to dry up, Giles had a cut across his forehead. She couldn't see any injuries on Buffy though she could tell she was in some sort of pain by the way she was tossing and turning restlessly in her sleep. _

_"If I can't see her injuries how I am suppose to help her with them?" Joyce asked herself and didn't expect an answer. But someone answered anyway._

_"No it's all up to her, always was," Joyce turned to her right to see Hank stood beside her._

_"Aren't you meant to be off living some cliché in Spain with your secretary from L.A?" Joyce asked, wondering what on earth he was doing here. He wasn't part of any of this anymore. _

_"Usually," He answered honestly, "But at the moment I seem to be here" He looked over at Buffy and Joyce followed his gaze, "She's growing up fast"_

_"Faster than she should," Joyce added and Hank nodded in agreement before looking directly at Joyce._

_"You can't protect them all for all the time you know?" He told her sombrely._

_"I can try," Joyce insisted looking back at them all._

_"But can you even protect yourself?" He countered and she turned to reply, but found he was already gone. And suddenly she was back on the sofa again._

_She was awake._

_The others woke around her moments after she herself did._

* * *

"So all of us had The First Slayer in our dreams," Buffy summarised as they all sat around the dining room table. 

"All of us who cast the spell that is," Giles added.

"Wow. The First Slayer." Willow commented.

"Not big on the socialization," Xander said with a worried frown, "She tried to kill me. Harsh."

"It was something to do with your chest wasn't it?" Joyce asked, remembering part of her own dream, "Near where you heart is."

Xander looked flummoxed.

"Yeah, it was actually. She pulled out my heart- how did you…?"

Joyce turned to Willow.

"And she was doing something to you completely wasn't she? It was like dehydration but…"

"She was sucking out my spirit I think…since that was the part I played in the spell but I still don't get…"

Joyce however didn't take time to answer as she carried on with her symptom identifying as she turned to Giles next to her.

"And your head…was cut…" She marked out on her own forehead where she had seen the incision.

"Joyce." He said to her, "How do you possibly know-"

"I saw it," She admitted, "In my own dream. I saw you all asleep in the living room…with those injuries," She looked at Buffy, "But I didn't see any on you"

"No," Buffy shook her head, "We just fought so I didn't really get any injuries."

"This is simply…" Giles began and Xander finished off the sentence.

"Confusing?"

"Well, yes," Giles agreed, "I suppose to a certain extent we can understand why we four shared similar dream experiences. It was due to the spell we cast. Invoking the essence of the Slayer's power was an affront to the source of that power, but…"

"You know you could have brought that up _before_ we did it," Buffy interrupted him.

"I did," Giles, pointed out, "I said there could be dire consequences,"

"But you say that about chewing too fast," She argued and Giles sighed as he carried on with his point.

"Anyway, what I'm saying is that part was explained," he looked at Joyce, "But I don't understand how you could be connected, to be able to see our injuries, when you weren't even a part of the spell."

_"You can't protect them all for all the time you know?" _

Hank's words echoed around in Joyce's head but she pushed them aside, choosing to ignore them for now.

"Just one of those things I guess," Joyce shrugged the concern aside.

"Hmm," Giles didn't sound convinced as he got up, "Either way I believe it would be highly beneficial to write everything that occurred in each of our dreams…perhaps it will determine some hidden meaning," He looked around trying to spot a pen and some paper, but saw neither.

"Not everything though?" Xander asked, sounding nervous, "I mean you just want the slayer related parts right?"

"Oh no," Giles shook his head, "Every part of the dream- you never know what vital information it may be revealing," He left the room to find some paper, unaware of how uncomfortable the prospect of revealing their dreams had made everyone.

"Buffy?" Joyce asked, noticing how her daughter looked deeply lost in her thoughts, "You're sure you're okay?"

Buffy looked up.

"What? Hmm? Oh yeah sure…it's just it was the First Slayer, you know?" Buffy looked around at all of them, "I'd never really thought about it. It was intense. I guess you guys got a taste of that huh?" She looked at Willow and Xander who both nodded just as Giles returned pen-and-paper in hand.

"Yeah," Xander said, "From now on you keep your slayer friends out of my dreams. Is that clear?" Buffy nodded with a smile.

"It's not good for the sleepin'." Willow agreed.

"Now," Giles said as he sat down, "Xander perhaps we could start with you?"

"M-My dream?" Xander stuttered nervously and Giles nodded.

"Yes, your dream. What do you remember of it?"

Xander was near to having a full-on panic attack. He couldn't tell them about _his_ dream. What about the threesome action he had dreamt about with Willow and Tara? Oh god- and Joyce. He _really_ couldn't say about that. He saw Giles and everyone else was looking at him expectantly. He needed to say something. He couldn't just sit here in contemplative silence forever.

"Well, erm," Xander cleared his throat which melded into a full-on audible gulp, "Well we were watching apocalypse now like we were meant to be when we were awake…" He said slowly, "And then I erm…I went upstairs…" He sighed, "Look, do we really have to do this? I'm sure it's just random things that mean nothing and the first slayer just hopped on board," He silently begged for even one person to agree with him.

"Xander," Giles said patiently, "This may seem tiresome to you, but it could be very important"

"Just go with it Xander," Buffy advised casually, "He's not gonna let up."

Xander sighed again in resignation as he uncomfortably carried on with his retelling of his dreams.

"So I went upstairs and then…was dressed in a red negligee and being all come-"

"Sorry, who?" Giles asked as he wrote it down, "I didn't quite catch that"

Couldn't they see how awkward and uncomfortable this was making him feel?

"Bffrm" He murmured.

"For us to understand you Xand you have to say actual words," Willow told him with a smile, "You know those things you find in dictionaries?"

"Haha," Xander laughed sarcastically and nervously as he briefly glanced Joyce's way before sighing as he prepared himself to say it, "It was Buffy's Mom okay?" He told them finding it was slightly less embarrassing when he said 'Buffy's Mom' rather than 'Joyce'.

There was a moment of silence, as they all seemed to take in what he said and tried to make sense of it.

"Oh…" Joyce said quietly and then "Oh!" again slightly louder as it fully sank in.

"On the other hand," Giles said quickly, "Perhaps our dreams were simply random thought processes that the First Slayer invaded."

They all agreed eagerly to this conclusion as Giles screwed up the paper he had been writing on and tossed it into the wastepaper basket in the corner.


	22. London

Zigpal- Thanks for the clapperized review. teehee. Glad you liked the way the dreams went but there was more than Dawn storylines hinted at...;-) hehe. And re the whole season 5 title...you're mocking me aren't you? **..::raises eyebrow::.** haha

Rabidreject- Thanks for review- happy you're liking this story so much, but don't worry- it won't be a long wait. In fact I'm just writing the final scene for Buffy vs Dracula so Cocorific:Season 5 should be up pretty soon

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So a story of my own creation. Eep. Don't think I've done something like this since Fear Itself. It turned out waaaaaaay longer than I planned it to, but there ya go. So read, enjoy, review and follow moi to season 5 as we wave bye to season 4. hehe.

* * *

He looked out the window seeing the clouds roll bye and the sea barely visible thousands of miles below them. He knew Joyce was looking forward to going to England, but he was more than a little apprehensive about going back to London. Joyce seemed to sense his awkwardness as she turned to look at him.

"You okay?" She asked casually, but was clearly anything but. She knew something was up

"What do you mean?"

"You're all…." She made a shrugging motion, "You seem…off." She finally settled on a word. He looked out the window again.

"It's just been so long since I've been in London," he told her, "Almost five years. I mean even then I was spending all my time with the Council- didn't get to see, ah, much of it really…after my time in actual London I made efforts to avoid the place as much as possible."

"Yeah well get over it," Joyce laughed and he found himself smiling with her, "Because I intend to play the American tourist," She frowned for a moment, "Except I won't be wearing socks with sandals" He laughed again and found himself feeling more relaxed. It would be hard going back to London if he was going alone, but he wasn't. He was going with Joyce. His fiancee. That word was still taking some getting used to. It was unfamiliar. He hadn't believed he would ever get married. Not many watchers did and when it happened it was usually with other watchers. His Father had been one exception to the rule- but being the exceptional Watcher he had been very few of the council complained about his choice. Giles had never intended to get married for other reasons though. In his line of work people got hurt- and he didn't want to put someone in so much danger by becoming so involved. And Joyce had been put in danger so many times, enough times to make him wonder whether it would be just better for her if he ended it. But anytime he came close to making that hard decision she stopped him and proved she was staying around no matter what.

"You know I've been to London once before," She told him, interrupting his thoughts.

"Really?" he asked with genuine interest and she nodded,

"Mm-hmm. When I was in college. It was for my Art History major," She smiled at the memory, "It was me and five others- we were meant to be doing field research but then we met this group of guys in-"

"Club Ten." Giles filled in, not believing what he was hearing.

"Yeah, how'd you…know?" Joyce barely got out the word 'know' as she looked at him and realization dawned on her face, which soon turned to denial, "No" She then dropped her head in her hands in embarrassment, "No- that was you?"

"And the rest of the group," Giles admitted sounding as equally embarrassed as Joyce, "We'd only met several months before. Me, R-Randall, Phillip, E-" He cut off and she looked at him.

"Ethan." She nodded in understanding. "It's alright to say his name you know?"

"I know," Giles, agreed, "I just don't like to." She smirked a little- a way to relieve the tension the mention of Ethan's name brought to the two of them.

"Oh god," She said. She'd never put it together. How could she have figured it out? No wonder the two of them had gotten on so well when they became teenagers again. Perhaps reliving the past? "I remember you now," She told him and he seemed to become even more embarrassed and uncomfortable if that were at all possible.

"Please remember me in a complimentary way," He pleaded, mortified by the entire memory and the fact Joyce was in on it. He tried to picture her face, but for the moment could only remember the group of girls as a whole. Impossible to separate from each other to identify individually.

"I had the hugest crush on you," She told him, "But you wouldn't give me the time of day." She hit his arm playfully as payment for the way he'd been towards her.

"Well you were a lowly American," he teased as suddenly her face came to mind. She had looked quite innocent, but daring at the same time, but Ripper still hadn't been interested. She had seemed too easy, clearly into him, and he had preferred a challenge. "Plus you were blonde" He added with a smile, "I never went for blondes"

"Deirdre was blonde," Joyce pointed out.

"I never went for Deirdre," Giles countered and he saw Joyce pout a little.

"Neither you or your friends made a move on me," She complained, "They all went for my friends but completely ignored me"

Giles knew exactly why. Phillip had taken an extreme interest in Joyce and also her friend Kate. But the moment Ripper had found out about Phillip going for Joyce he had made it violently clear she was off limits. He hadn't known why at the time. Ethan had put it down to the Rupert Giles that still remained in him not wanting to taint Joyce's innocence. Ripper had shrugged it off, but had also warned the others off making moves on her. Not wanting to provoke Ripper, the majority had readily complied.

"I…erm…don't know why that was," He cleared his throat guiltily and she looked at him with suspicion. He looked out the window to avoid her gaze, "Oh look we'll be landing soon"

* * *

They arrived at Heathrow airport shortly before five thirty pm and Joyce could immediately see that the weather was drizzly. Wasn't it meant to be nearly summer? The moment they got their baggage they stepped outside where dozens of taxis were waiting eagerly for paying passengers. 

They drove along in the taxi in silence, both apparently too exhausted from the flight to talk, but Joyce enjoyed looking at the sights flitting by and sleepily made a mental note of which ones she wanted to visit first.

When the taxi pulled to a stop Joyce saw nothing but a row of grand Victorian terraces in front of her. She frowned at Giles in confusion but all he said was 'come on' as he got out of the car and she followed suit.

The taxi driver helped carry their bags up the front steps of the long garden in front of one of the terraced houses and as Joyce came closer to the front door she saw a Beatrix-Potter-esque sign on the door that said 'The Blossoms Hotel' it was bordered in pastel colored flowers as though the reader may not have gotten the meaning of the sign.

"Thank you," Giles said paying the driver and he hurried down the garden back to his cab and drove off without so much as a thank you or by-your-leave. Ringing a doorbell they heard the door buzz and they stepped through taking their bags with them to the front desk.

The inside of the hotel was just as you would have expected a middle class terraced house to be like in the Victorian era. With a white, winding staircase in the spacious hall, which had pale peach wallpaper and cream-and-gold skirting boards. The front desk was not so much a desk but a window to another room of the house, which behind sat a sweet looking old woman who looked as though she'd been around since the house was built. As Giles spoke to the woman, Joyce looked around the room. Seeing where the living area was on ahead and the kitchens further on. Looking above her she saw how far up the spiral staircase went and how many rooms there were. Behind her was a small table upon which were numerous leaflets speaking of attractions nearby and how to reach them. On the same table was a small vase of white lilies. It was a nice touch.

"Ah yes, Mr Giles of course," The woman nodded looking down at the reservation, "Room 103." She looked up at him, "I hope your trip was okay?" She asked and Giles nodded.

"As well as can be expected," He smiled and the woman smiled in understanding.

"Well, I would strongly advise against giving into sleep straight away," She told the two of them wisely, "It will make the time adjustment a lot easier for you. I found that out the hard way when my husband and I visited America once"

Both Giles and Joyce nodded in agreement, but sincerely doubted they would follow through with that plan. They felt exhausted.

"Well, erm since everything is in order," The woman concluded, "Shall I have Thomas show you to your room?" Joyce jumped as she realized in the time they had been listening to the old woman's advise a boy no older than 21 was stood beside them smiling and ready to take their bags to their room.

"Oh, erm thank you," She said to him as the boy picked up her luggage.

"Oh, erm I'm Lily," The old woman behind the desk told them, "And if you have any concerns, please don't hesitate to ask me." Giles and Joyce both nodded at the woman before following Tom up the stairs.

"This place is so beautiful," Joyce, told Giles as the two walked up the stairs, they were already reaching the second flight, "It just seems so…authentic."

"I'm sincerely glad you like it," Giles told her with a smile, as he leaned in for a kiss.

"You staying here long?" Tom asked casually, unaware that he had interrupted a 'couple moment'.

"Just a few days," Joyce told him patiently, "Like a long weekend…only in the middle of the week and not at the…weekend…" She trailed off and Tom nodded in understanding. He looked back at Joyce as they reached the beginning of the third flight.

"So you're American then?" He asked her and she frowned in confusion at the question.

"Yes, for many years now," She joked.

"Cool that," Tom told her, "Always fancied going to America. Not had a chance yet though. What part of America you from?"

"Erm California," Giles told him, "Sunnydale specifically," Tom frowned at him as they walked along the third floor corridor, "I'm not American though…obviously" he explained and Tom's confusion seemed to lessen.

"Ah I see," he said, placing their bags on the floor outside a small door as he reached into his pocket for a set of keys. He found them and placed them in the keyhole, turning the lock. "Nice room this. One of my favorites," He said talking directly to Joyce, "You should like it." He handed her the keys after unlocking the door, and she gripped them tightly as they were heavier than she expected them to be. "Hope you enjoy your stay," He told her with a friendly wink before heading past them and back down the stairs. Giles watched the boy go with disapproval.

"What's that look for?" Joyce laughed at him as she opened the room door and took her bag inside with her.

"Him," Giles replied simply, following Joyce into the room with his own bags, "The way he was acting with you" Joyce turned to look at him.

"He was just being friendly,"

"Hmm," Giles didn't sound too convinced, "I think he found the American thing 'exotic'" Joyce was about to retort when she got her first glance at their room.

It was a large, wooden floored room with gold-and-white striped wallpaper with wildwood skirting board. The room was so spacious it even had an open fireplace built in on the far side. Against the main wall lay the centrepiece, a king-size, mahogany, four-poster bed. Joyce's jaw dropped open wide. She had_ not_ been expecting this.

"Whoa," She said simply.

"I don't think 'whoa' covers it." Giles said looking around the room in awe. He had researched the hotel before booking of course and it had seemed nice but this…this went beyond nice.

"You're right," Joyce agreed, "Whoa falls short" She looked over at the bed and then looked up at him with a sleepy smile. "I know sleep is not a good idea right now, but it couldn't hurt to have a little nap could it? Refresh ourselves?"

"Sounds perfect," Giles agreed trying to mask a yawn but failing miserably and a moment later Joyce mirrored it.

Taking off their shoes they headed over to the bed and flopped down on the soft white and gold covers. Joyce literally felt herself sink into the soft, inviting mattress. As they lay down Joyce snuggled against Giles, resting her head on his chest.

"Just forty winks," She murmured her eyes already closed.

* * *

When Giles opened his eyes he noticed the light that poured through the uncovered windows was a lot lighter than it had been when they had fallen asleep for a quick nap. Looking at the clock beside him he saw it was 9 am the next day and that their quick nap had become a very long sleep. He turned to look at Joyce beside him and as though sensing him watching her, her eyes blinked open wearily. 

"Hey," She said to him, a yawn in her voice. She squinted at the bright light pouring in on them, "Why does that strike me as not the right light for six pm?" She asked, rubbing her eyes.

"Because it's not?" He suggested holding up the digital clock for her to see the time and she groaned as she realized how long they had been asleep.

"Oh my, so much for a quick nap," She commented sitting up straight and stretching the remaining sleep out of her. She stood up and headed towards the window to take a good look at the weather outside. The sun was beaming down on the dry pavement below. "Nice weather," She told him, "Great for shopping"

"Shopping?" He asked as though the word had never occurred to him before.

"Oh come on," She smiled at him, "A girl can't come to England, London specifically, without doing a _little_ shopping."

* * *

"I don 't call this a 'little' shopping," Giles commented a long while later when they were still looking through stores. 

"So I got a little carried away," She shrugged with a smile when her eyes caught sight of a small antique store. In the window were several jewellery items that drew her in. She walked over to have a closer look at the necklaces, bracelets and rings laid out on display. "Some of these pieces are just…exquisite." She said looking at them all in detail as Giles stood besides her looking through the window as well.

"Well, I believe you still need a ring…" He reminded her and she looked up at him in surprise.

"Oh no," She told him, looking back at the display for a moment, "We can't-" But before she had time to be practicality girl, Giles had taken her in the store.

The store was large but seemed so much smaller due to the dozen of glass shelves and cabinets in the room. It was difficult to move along one shelf without knocking the one behind.

"Can I help you?" A woman name tagged 'Gail' asked them.

"Erm, yes, I suppose you can," Giles admitted, "We were, ah, we were looking for rings"

"Engagement rings specifically," Joyce told her with a smile which Gail returned.

"Of course, well, we have a small, wonderful collection just donated to us recently," The woman informed them clearly eager at the idea of wedding rings. Or perhaps it was the idea of a sale. Or maybe it was both. She led them to one of the many glass cabinets in had a black velvet board on which lay four silver rings. They were each Celtic in design with interwoven knots making up the band with a different stone set in the center in each of them. "They're not traditional I'll have you, but our research into them revealed them to be a style popularly used as engagement rings in the early 20th Century"

"They're…" Joyce thought the word 'beautiful' would be too dramatic so she let the sentence fade away as she looked at the rings. Once again her brain told this whole thing was crazy. Some imaginary thing on going on her head. She was looking for engagement rings for crying out loud. She felt she was sinking in a sea of surreal.

"I know," Gail, agreed although Joyce hadn't really said anything to agree with, "Would you like to try one on?"

Joyce looked at the choice of rings in front of her and looked at the one, which was grabbing her attention in particular. It was slightly different from the others as the band had an extra weave and the stone in the centre was opal. She pointed it out with a nervous smile in Giles' direction as Gail placed the velvet board on the side and picked up the selected ring.

"Now let's see if it uh fits…" Gail said to her as she held out her ring finger and it was slipped on. Gail smiled as if the entire thing had been down to her, "Well, look at that. Perfect fit"

* * *

The Watcher's Council was in the centre of London. In plain sight yet completely hidden. To anybody unfamiliar with the world of demons, vampires, Slayers and Watchers it looked nothing more than another corporate business building among hundreds of others. But inside was the HQ of the Watcher's Council. 

As well as recording the lives of each and every slayer and designating a Watcher to each one the Council also researched into ancient artefacts of great power- to either destroy the object or harness it.

For the past 50 years they had been tracking the Seven Rings of Hell. Each Ring was extremely powerful and ancient in origin and was directly tied to one of the Princes of Hell. Demons so far up on the hierarchy they deemed Slayers too lowly to fight but would kill them as a human swats a fly if they had to. Extremely insidious it was vital that the council put a stop to them- the only way being through binding them to the rings. So far they had six of the rings-Baal-beryth, Dumah, Meririm, Rahab, Sariel and Lucifer Rofocale. One still evaded them though- The Ring of Mephistopheles. They were constantly trying to find the item, but it was almost impossible even with the post powerful of scrying incantations that the council had to hand. The only time they would be able to locate it was when it was unfortunately activated.

There was a chamber of the Council dedicated entirely to this cause- and only very few of the Watchers actually knew of it. The ones at the top of the hierarchy and the ones directly involved in dealing with the rings. Quentin Travers was one of the few who knew about the place even know he wasn't working on it. Being the very top of the Council ladder he regularly checked to see the progress. He alone knew how truly desperate it was that they find Mephistopheles' ring.

"Sir!" One of the younger watchers, Graham, suddenly shouted him over. He was one of the trackers, but fairly new at the job, "I think we've found something! Could be the ring,"

Travers headed over with several other watchers to get a closer look at what Graham had found.

"That's the ring alright," Cassandra, another of the Watcher's concluded, "Get a bead on it Graham, fast"

"We need to find the wearer before the demon does," Travers told them all sombrely

* * *

"Are you sure you don't mind?" Joyce asked as they headed back out of the hotel for the second time that day. After the shopping trip they had returned to The Blossom Hotel with their bags, Joyce's ring on her finger. A quick change and they were off again heading out to see all the tourist attractions of London, intending to fill their short days with as much as possible, "Playing tourist? In a place you're not _really_ a tourist in I mean," 

"I think I'll cope," He told her with a smile as they walked down the streets. This was normal for once. No demons, no watcher's council, nothing supernatural. Just everything normal. "Besides," he said, "I assure you it will be fun"

"I'll make sure of that," She laughed, "Just forget the adult stuff for a day huh?" She was making that a promise to herself. She wasn't worrying about home, bills, the gallery, nothing. "That's the whole point of a holiday isn't it?"

"What?" Giles asked, "Act like two kids in love?" He gave her a pointed look, "Because we know how well _that_ turned last time"

"I certainly enjoyed myself," She told him slyly, "But somehow I don't think London will be as understanding as Sunnydale. Not being on a Hellmouth and all"

"Shame," Giles commented and Joyce looked at him with raised eyebrows. He wasn't implying what she thought he was, was he?

* * *

It had been a challenge but nearly every intended sight had been seen. Big Ben, Trafalgar square, the London Eye, the tower…The London Eye had been an experience and a half. Being able to see all of London at once was awe-inspiring. But now there wasn't so much awe as aching feet as they walked down the streets they had come and were heading back to their hotel. 

"You know I never knew there was a chapel called Saint Faith," Joyce told him as they walked together, thinking back on one of the many sights they had travelled to.

"Sounds backwards doesn't it after recent events?" He bit back a grin and Joyce nodded.

"Hmm…I'm thinking Buffy would have to see it for herself before she would even considering believing it," Joyce looked thoughtful, "Maybe it shows though that there's a lot of hope for Faith yet."

"Perhaps," Giles admitted as he put his arm around her as they walked and Joyce was given a major sense of déjà vu as she was taken back to the first time they had walked down a street like this. Seeking more contact she snuggled closer to him as they strolled along the pavement. Suddenly, they stopped walking as Giles turned towards her kissing her lightly on the lips. After they parted she kissed him too before turning to start walking again their feelings expressed in a small, sweet exchange, but Giles tugged her back and gave her a deeper kiss that Joyce fell into. Loving the feel of his mouth on hers she fell into him, wrapping her arms around him and he slipped his arms around her waist his hands slightly and gently caressing her back and she shivered despite the warmth his touch gave her through her top.

* * *

"We're very, very close sir," Graham told Travers in the car as they were still honing in on the ring. 

"We'd better be," Travers told him and he gave Cassandra a look that they both shared that clearly said 'or else we're buggered'.

"I think I've found it sir!" Graham exclaimed clearly pleased with himself. He checked a compass, which didn't seem to point at any particular pole before looking out the window and pointing to a couple he saw kissing against a wall. It looked quite a private moment and Graham instantly looked away and down at his feet out of politeness.

"What's the matter man?" Travers asked him, "Have you identified the wearer or not?"

"Y-yes sir…it's just it's a couple sir and they seem to be…_having a moment_."

"Don't be so fastidious Hopkins," Travers told him, before looking through the window of the car himself. "Dear God," He said. He couldn't quite see the woman but he certainly recognized the man, "That's a watcher…former watcher," He corrected himself.

"Who?" Cassandra asked, trying to look, but Travers was already opening the car door.

"I think it would be preferable if I dealt with this directly," Travers told them, crossing the street towards the couple that were still at it, "Lord, have some decorum Giles," Travers murmured as he walked over.

* * *

Up against the wall the kiss had become a lot more passionate than either of them had intended in the middle of the street. Giles had never been one for extreme public displays of affection. Perhaps a light kiss, hugging, holding hands…but this…this was something he normally didn't like to do in such a public space. He wrapped his arms tighter around her, one hand reaching up to hold the nape of her neck as he continued kissing her hard on the lips and she responded as their tongues brushed lightly as he gained entrance again. 

Dimly, he heard footsteps heading towards them and out of respect for passers-by and himself he reluctantly drew apart from her, but continued to hold her tightly looking down at her grinning face as he waited for the person to pass by. But they didn't. They continued to stand where they were, next to the couple and Giles turned to look at who it was only to find Quentin Travers stood there.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, letting go of Joyce as he turned to face Travers.

"I thought you'd have that response," Travers admitted, "Though I could ask the very same question of you. Then again, I suppose that… 'affection' you were announcing to the city a moment ago would answer it," He looked at the woman with a slight look of disapproval and disdain and then he saw who it was, "Mrs Summers," He looked at Giles, "I should have guessed."

"I'm sorry," Joyce apologized with a shake of the head, "Do I…know you?"

"No, not at all," Travers replied, "We've never met, but I do know _of_ you."

"I wish I could say the same," She replied before looking at Giles with a questioning look.

"This is, uh, Quentin Travers," Giles looked uncomfortable as he explained who this 'Quentin Travers' was, "He's the head of the watcher's council."

"Oh, I see," Joyce, acknowledged with an unimpressed look.

"Ah, it's understandable that you may have misapprehensions about the Council-"

"I'd pretty much say they were comprehensions actually," She told him and he smiled tightly.

"So what are you doing here Travers?" Giles repeated his question.

"So blunt Rupert," Travers commented when he spotted the ring glinting on Joyce's finger. He pointed at it, "We're here for that," He told them and Joyce instantly covered the ring protectively. He looked at Giles, "Wedding finger I see. And you said you were never going to get married Rupert. You claimed that many times."

"Why do you want the ring?" Giles asked, refusing to even reply to Travers' comment although out of the corner of his eye he saw Joyce's look of surprise.

"It's connected to a demon we're tracking," Travers told them, "Putting it on has activated the summons the ring creates. The demon has already heard the call we believe."

"Seriously?" Joyce asked in disbelief and Travers nodded. Joyce looked down at the ring sadly with a sigh and she began to take it off not without remorse but Travers suddenly stopped her.

"What on earth are you doing?" He asked.

"Taking it off," She replied simply, "It may look great, but I'm not big on having a demon-attracting engagement ring on my finger."

"But our only way to track the demon is while it's on that hand of yours Mrs Summers," Travers told her and Giles was instantly outraged.

"I'm not letting you put her at risk like that just so you can find some demon of yours,"

"You haven't got a choice," Travers told him, "Take the ring off now and she'll be in even more danger. The only way to stop the demon completely is to bind it the ring which can only done when it is in its presence." He looked at Giles, "You don't have a choice Giles." Giles went to argue further before sighing in acceptance. If he wanted Joyce to be completely safe they would just have to wait it out till the demon was securely bound to the ring. "Now," Travers carried on seeing Giles had now agreed, "She'll be safer with the council for the duration."

"What?" Joyce asked. She wasn't going anywhere near that place considering the last time she met some of it's members she'd almost been killed.

"She's not going with you," Giles insisted- he didn't trust the council as far as he could throw them.

"Now Giles," Travers told him in what he believed to be the voice of reason, "Cause any trouble about this and we can make things very difficult"

"Him causing trouble?" Joyce asked, "What about me? _I'm_ the one who doesn't want to go. I'll keep the ring on for now but I-"

* * *

"-Did not see this coming," Joyce said as they rode in the car along with Travers, Graham and Cassandra. After a heated argument Travers had eventually convinced them that going to the Council would be safer and they had only agreed to go after they made him make assurances of their being lack of observations, no invasion on their privacy and it would not be in anyway viewed as forced captivity. Giles and Joyce still felt like they were getting the short end of the whole thing, but deep down realized that they really didn't have a choice. 

"I'm sorry Joyce," Giles apologized, "I never wanted you to get directly involved with these people" Cassandra let out a little gasp of indignation at the way he said 'these people' and he apologized. He had been quite good friends with Cassandra when he had been working at the Council and didn't really intend to offend her even if she was one of the more orthodox Watchers.

"It's okay, honestly," Joyce told him with a little shrug, "We came to London. What do we expect? Normalcy?" He smiled a little at her slight joke and she took his hand, "Don't worry about it."

* * *

"Nicola informed me you'd found the ring" 

"Is it true?"

"Is it really the seventh?"

"Finally!"

"Thank the Lord!"

"Is someone wearing it? Her?"

Joyce looked nervously to Giles as they stood in one of the main rooms dedicated to the rings at the Watcher's Council and a dozen Watchers had ran over to them when they had been taken in. Realizing the ring was on Joyce's finger the one referred to as Nicola grabbed her hand to have a closer look.

"It is, you can tell by the design," She told the others, "Quite extraordinary" And they all leaned in for a closer look.

"And I thought no one would be looking at it till we were back in Sunnydale," Joyce joked lamely.

"Yes, well," Travers said breaking up the crowd, "Confirmations completed I would like for us to resume our tasks. The demon, have we been able to track it as of yet?"

"We believe we have it sir," Liam told him, "It's moving at a slow pace presently but it's speed could accelerate."

"Keep a close eye on it," Travers insisted and Liam and several others nodded in acceptance of the task as they resumed what they were doing.

"I suppose that means we're free to go?" Giles challenged and Travers looked affronted.

"Go where? I certainly don't hope you mean out of the building, Rupert. You know as well as I that this is Council business and-"

"Out of the room," Giles sighed impatiently. Did the man have to make uproar about everything?

"Yes, well," Travers looked the couple over with a snooty sniff, "I suppose so,"

Giles and Joyce nodded in mute acceptance and turned to leave when they heard a familiar voice nearby.

"No way, it canne be, what are you doing 'ere of all places mate?" The couple turned around to see one familiar face in the sea of Watchers: Dan.

"Believe me, it's not by choice," Giles grumbled as way of greeting and Dan frowned.

"I could take that personally," His frown then turned to a smile as he looked at the two of them. It had been all work non-stop recently at the council and he was glad to see a few friendly non-watcher faces. He had been recently helping with the hell rings situation- helping with locator spells and the like, but the inner sanctum were still too tight-lipped to reveal all the information. He knew they were tracking the seventh ring but he hadn't even been told which one. Typical. So Giles and Joyce were a nice distraction. He exchanged a brief manly handshake with Giles and then turned to Joyce with a smile, "Sorry love. Not much of an hugger, me, and I think you're too girly for a handshake." She laughed lightly.

"It's fine, honest,"

"Good t'know," He winked before looking at them seriously, "In all seriousness now though, what are you doing here?"

Joyce held her up left hand in silent answer so the ring was facing him.

"You're…." Dan struggled to guess, "pitching for BidTV?" Joyce hit him on the arm.

"No," She laughed at him, before looking at the ring herself, "Apparently it's the ring you've all been looking for,"

"The seventh ring," He stated, his eyes widening in realization as he took a hold of her hand to have a closer look, "I should really recognize it considerin' I've been helping search for it for most o't time recently," He suddenly squinted in puzzlement as he looked at her hand, "Why's it on your wedding finger?" He asked in innocent confusion looking up at her as he posed the question and she gave him a pointed look rather than answering. And then it clicked, "You-him, you two? No! You tied the knot?" He asked with a disbelieving grin and the couple shook their heads.

"No the, ah, knot has of yet not been, er, tied," Giles told him.

"This was _meant_ to be the perfect engagement ring," Joyce sulked, "I have _gotta_ stop picking out antiques," she commented in exasperation as she thought back to how the Nigerian tribal mask had turned out. Not well would be an understatement.

* * *

"This is the life," Buffy said blissfully. 

"What?" Willow asked, "House-sitting for your Mom?"

They were in Joyce and Giles' kitchen sat at the counter happily munching over a shared carton of Ben and Jerry's.

"No, sitting here just eating of the ice cream,"

"And drinking of the soda," Willow agreed holding up her can briefly to emphasize the point.

"Ladies, ladies, I hope there is enough cream in the iced sense of the word left for me," Xander announced as he walked back into the room from the garden.

"You took your time," Buffy commented handing him a spoon so he could have sharesies on the cookie dough goodness.

"Well, would Buffy like to take her own trash out?" Xander asked her in the same tone a 1st grade teacher would ask her pupils.

"No," Buffy sulked knowing she had no argument or comeback if she wanted Xander to carry on doing the none-to-pleasant chores around the house.

"Come on, take a seat Xand," Willow smiled, patting the stool next to her and Xander happily hopped on spooning out some ice cream as he did so.

"This is nice," Buffy, said to them, "It's what we've been missing lately"

"Adding unnecessary calories to our diet?" Willow quipped

"You know what I mean," Buffy laughed.

"Yeah," Xander agreed, "It kinda takes me back to the normalcy of sophomore year." He paused in thought for a moment, "Normal that is without the vampires, evil witches, invisible girls and living puppets"

"Of course," Willow agreed with a smile playing at her lips.

"It is a whole world of good," Buffy concluded, "I've missed this."

"Me too," Willow grinned and Xander nodded silently as he gulped down another scoop of ice cream.

"Do you think your Mom and Giles are having a good time in London?" He asked, ice cream now swallowed.

"Totally," Buffy replied, "They're probably enjoying the normalcy as much as we are"

* * *

It could have been the three of them having a coffee in a normal coffee bar rather than in the Watcher's Council if it wasn't for the sudden resounding alarm that rang off. It wasn't particularly loud but it was insistent. 

"What is that?" Joyce asked looking around.

"That I think's your demon," Dan told her standing up and her and Giles followed suit.

"What? It's here now?" Giles asked putting his arm protectively round Joyce.

"I'm thinkin' yeah mate," Daniel told him as several of the Watcher specialists, Travers included, headed over. Travers walked directly over to Joyce.

"Come along, we have to make sure you're in a safer place now," He told her, taking her arm and leading her away from Giles. Giles went to head forward but Graham stopped him.

"No, you'll only complicate matters," He told him, "She's in good hands"

Giles wasn't entirely convinced.

Daniel walked over to Cassandra as he watched carefully Travers walking along with Joyce.

"So, erm which ring is it?" He asked casually. He was merely interested in passing but he knew better than to ask outright. It caused many Watchers to immediately zip their lips and throw away the key. No wonder there wasn't much gossip around the office water cooler.

"Oh, erm Mephistopholes," Cassandra answered, immediately falling into his net of casualness.

"Mephistopholes?" Dan repeated and she nodded, "The destroyer?"

"Mm-hmm,"

"But then the only way for it to be bound to the ring is…" Dan felt sick with realization as he figured out what Travers was willing to do for 'Good' to have full control of the rings. He ran over to Giles and immediately told him what he had found out.

"What?" Giles asked in shock. Some part of him was still stuck in disbelief.

"I only just found out meself," Dan admitted and he and Giles went to urgently push past the Watchers in front of them but, figuring out what they were trying to do, were stopped by Weatherby, Collins and Smith grabbing their arms.

"Joyce!" Giles cried out, grabbing her attention as she stopped walking and turned around to look at him.

"What-" Then she caught sight of the fact him and Dan had their arms tied behind their back in an almost literal sense, "What's going on?"

"Wearing the ring isn't exactly safe if ya catch meh drift!" Dan shouted in vague warning, not wanting to alert the other Watchers who were oblivious to the ring situation. Despite what Travers was trying to do, Daniel still had loyalties to the Council.

"What?" Joyce asked, not quite understanding what Daniel was trying to tell her. Of course the ring wasn't safe. That's why they were here wasn't it?

"Take the ring off Joyce!" Giles told her urgently, but before she could slip the band of Travers grabbed her hand.

"Let's not do that eh?" He asked.

"Huh?" She looked at Giles and Dan trying to tug against the men who were holding them back and she was sure she recognized the lackeys but their faces were partly hidden by the others. She looked up at Travers nervously wondering what was really going on.

"You see we're fighting a war here Mrs Summers," He told her, his lecture voice on, "The ultimate war in fact- one that surpasses all the meagre ones between governments. And to let this ring go would be an extreme benefit to the evils off this world, do you understand?" She nodded slightly, "And so we all have to make sacrifices for the greater Good. We here do it every day"

"Then why are you never the one making the sacrifice?" She asked evenly, thinking of the cruciamentum among other things Giles had told her about the Council.

"Hmm…very colorful," Travers commented and Joyce looked over at Dan while the head of the council still had a hold on her right wrist.

"What happens if I take the ring off?" She asked.

"They won't be able to bind the demon, harness it's power. The demon will return t'uh whatever the hell dimension 'e came from." Dan shouted over to her and realizing taking off the band wouldn't cause any imminent danger she attempted to shake it off since her other hand was held firmly in Travers' grasp. It wouldn't even slide a millimetre down her finger.

"Stupid perfect fit," She complained with a sigh. She looked over at Giles and Daniel who were both clearly unable to help her as even more Watchers were preventing them getting to her now and she couldn't help rolling her eyes at the entire situation, "Oh for crying out loud," and used some simple techniques Buffy had shown her stepped heavily on Travers' foot and as he jumped slightly at the shock she elbowed him directly in the face. _Really _not expecting that Travers stumbled back and let go of Joyce's wrist. Immediately Joyce slipped the ring off her hand and it dropped on the floor and instantly the siren switched off to silence and the sound of the ring clattering on the floor echoed anti-climatically.

Seeing there was no point in holding Dan and Giles back anymore the lackeys released their tight grip and the other Watchers stood aside as Joyce ran back over to Giles.

"Are you okay?" He asked her as they hugged.

"I'm fine, just-" She glanced over Giles' shoulder and caught a glimpse of Weatherby stood behind them. Pulling out of Giles' embrace she also saw Smith and Collins. "You three"

"What three?" Giles asked.

"Them three?" Dan bluntly pointed at the three Watchers.

"They were the ones who tried to kill me" Joyce worriedly realized that this was fast becoming a pattern between her and the Watchers' Council. She didn't like it.

"What?" Weatherby asked in shock before Giles could express any kind of anger, "We've never met you before today"

"Not me, _me_ perhaps," She admitted stepping over to them, "I _was_ Faith and I kept telling you my name was really Joyce but you didn't believe me"

"With all due respect Madam," Collins countered, "You were in fact the slayer."

"The slayer you were going to kill!"

"I-If we had _known_ for a fact that you weren't, well, yourself…" Smith reasoned.

"You could have though, but you didn't," Joyce argued, "You said you didn't care what was in the package. You spat in my face. You _drugged_ me,"

"Is this true?" Dan asked Giles in a murmur and Giles just shrugged slightly in confusion.

"This is the first time I've heard this actually," He admitted, "She would never give me details of what happened."

"No wonder," Dan said as he listened to Joyce rant off other offences the three Watchers had committed against her while she had been the Slayer (Dan didn't want to think about that too much. He presumed it involved magic and that was as far as he wanted to know) and she was in fact starting to gather a small crowd and Dan could see Giles getting madder and madder at Weatherby in particular. He needed to diffuse this situation quick if Giles and Joyce were going to leave with minimal complication.

"Oh-hokay," He said heading over to Joyce and putting a hand on her arm, "I think you've effectively downsized them for a suitably long time" He told her, "And I think Ripper's gonna be simmering for a _long_ while now," He added glancing back at his friend briefly.

* * *

Joyce felt his strong arms wrap around her and as he pulled her closer as they lay under the covers she smiled, snuggling deeper into the embrace. With the feel of his skin on hers as he lay protectively against her back, she couldn't imagine a place she would rather be as she rubbed her hands along his, feeling his rough, warm skin under her cool palms. In response she felt feather-light kisses being traced down the nape of her neck and along her shoulder. Without consciousness she let out a soft sigh of happiness as she breathed in the moment, enjoying every second to it's full. 

She shuffled round slightly so she could turn over so she was facing him. She spent a moment taking in all the features of his face and she ran her hand gently down the side of his cheek, reaching the warm smile.

"I'm not ready to go home just yet," She told him quietly.

"We have time yet" He assured her warmly and as she smiled at him she stretched slightly and she caught a glimpse of her new, non-magickal, engagement ring. Gold band, diamond. Safe and traditional.

"Very nice," She commented, looking at it with admiration and as she relaxed her stretch she wrapped her arms lazily around his neck and he nuzzled warmly against hers and she closed her eyes contentedly as she just relaxed there.

* * *

"Ooh toast!" Buffy said cheerily as she entered the kitchen in the morning and grabbed a piece of toasted bread off the blue and white plate. 

"Buffy that's my toast-" Willow went to say as she turned around from the sink but then saw half the piece was already in Buffy's mouth.

"Smmfry" Buffy mumbled with an apologetic shrug.

Willow was about to say something in reply when the two of them heard the front door open and knew Joyce and Giles had returned from their trip. They got up and headed out of the kitchen and walked into the hall where the couple stood with luggage around them. They were clearly jetlagged and Joyce was already nursing a take-away cup of coffee from the Espresso Pump.

"Hey! Welcome home!" Buffy exclaimed giving them both hugs as did Willow.

"So how was it? Fun?" Willow asked eagerly.

"It bore remarkable resemblance to Sunnydale actually," Giles told them.

"Only with different accents and more unpredictable weather," Joyce added and both Willow and Buffy frowned in confusion.

"Huh?" They asked in sync and Joyce waved it aside.

"Oh nothing. It was good…a really, really nice trip," She concluded smiling secretively at Giles and neither Willow nor Buffy had to be rocket scientists to interpret the looks exchanged.

Taking a sip of her coffee Joyce made an effort to make sure her ring was glinting in the girls' direction. However both remained oblivious. She cleared her throat to attract their attention.

"What? Something up?" Buffy asked, sounding just as oblivious as Willow looked.

"Ring," Giles stated simply as he double-checked they had all their bags, "Notice it or wear coffee," He said to them, giving voice to Joyce's silent threat. It was only then that the nineteen-year-olds noticed the sparkling diamond ring on Joyce's finger.

"Ooh la la!" Buffy exclaimed taking a hold of her Mom's hand to have a closer look, "It's just so," She looked at Giles, "Nice taste Giles,"

"Nice sized wallet as well," Willow added as she looked at the ring. She then became aware of the looks everyone was giving her, "I mean that in a wholesome not-at-all shallow or greedy way," She assured them quietly.


End file.
